Is this asbestos? (picture)?
Filed in Mesothelioma Info on Feb.23, 2011
http://s266.photobucket.com/albums/ii279/Kamoniac/?action=view¤t=0728101103-00.jpg
^That’s my ceiling in my room (and around our house). It’s been like that since I can remember. I’m 14 years old and I’m not sure how old this house is but definitely older than me and my brother (he’s 16). I never really paid attention to those commercials about mesothelioma.. Now I’m freaked out.. Is that asbestos? I’ve lived hear most my life with my dad and brother..
February 23rd, 2011 at 9:51 am
No that it is a textured ceiling panel and while very ugly and something that really should be got rid of it is not poisonous. Asbestos looks like this: http://servicesneeds.com/images/artex_asbestos7.jpg
and is normally found between layers of other material. I would recommend that if you are very concerned getting a qualified insulation engineer in to look and make sure there is none in your house. It would be very unlikely unless the house was built before 1976 (US), if you are in the UK then it is most unlikely unless the house was built before 1980.
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:40 am
What you have there is a typical “popcorn” ceiling. This hideous thing reached its peak of popularity in the 1960′s. It may or may not contain asbestos; the only way to know for sure is to have it tested. Keep in mind that in the past, lots of building materials contained asbestos. In my grandma’s 1932 book of “household helps”, there’s a helpful suggestion for making mats for hot cooking pots out of asbestos.
There is no doubt that you’ve been around asbestos lots of times without being aware of it, whether in your own home or someone else’s or at school or in some other building.
The thing about asbestos, though, is that it is only dangerous when it’s disturbed, for example by cutting into it or tearing it out. That’s when those wicked little particles become airborne and can get into your lungs. Just being around intact asbestos is harmless. Even if that popcorn texture on your ceiling contains asbestos, it can’t hurt you, especially considering it probably has a layer or two of paint over it to further contain the stuff.
I used to do a lot of work on old houses, so I have personally (and happily!) scraped that ugly popcorn off many ceilings, including the ones in my own home. Possibly or even probably I stirred up some asbestos. That was a long time ago, but my lungs are still fine. Maybe I’ll suffer from mesothelioma in the future; who knows? I’m not worried about it. My odds of getting killed in a car accident today are higher.
I’m also an ICU nurse and in all my years of doing that, I’ve only had maybe one or two patients with mesothelioma. The commercials lead you to believe people are dropping like flies from this disease, but it isn’t true. Sure, it’s a horrible disease and I wouldn’t recommend you knowingly get yourself into a cloud of asbestos fibers like I did, but I’m willing to bet you’re perfectly safe from having that ceiling in your home. It’s ugly, but it won’t kill you.
February 23rd, 2011 at 11:00 am
Is that hard and kind of rough? It looks like what they call a “popcorn ceiling”. It is a style of ceiling finish.
It isn’t straight asbestos, but it probably contains asbestos. I have the same kind of ceiling in my house, but it was built in the late 80′s and contains no asbestos. To know for sure you’d have to have it tested for asbestos, but if your home was build after the mid 80′s or so the chance of asbestos being present drops dramatically.
It it really bothers you that much, ask your dad when the house was built and if it was before the mid 80′s you might suggest to have the ceiling tested.
Good luck