The Importance of Asbestos Testing

 Asbestos testing may be important before beginning any home improvement project. If your home was built before 1980, it can be assumed that there are likely asbestos-containing products in your home. Asbestos has been widely used in building materials in the past, and that means that older homes are likely to contain asbestos.

Asbestos is a fibrous material that can be used in a variety of ways. The main danger of asbestos is that its fibers are so small that they can be easily inhaled. These fibers, once inside the body, can cause a lot of damage to the body, including lung cancer. It's been used in the past in flooring, ceiling tiles, insulation, and many other uses. The point is that if your home is older, you may have asbestos anywhere in your house.

That doesn't mean, however, that you need to panic about it. The good thing about asbestos is that it doesn't simply radiate danger around it. For any asbestos fibers to pose a danger, they have to come into contact with you - and that usually means they'll have to be airborne. Airborne particles can have a dangerous effect on the lungs and the body in general, but if materials with asbestos aren't damaged or disturbed in any way, the asbestos fibers in them won't be able to loosen themselves and cause damage to anyone's body. Asbestos testing can tell you whether or not material in your house contains asbestos, but it will also require careful sampling of the material in question. A professional can do this testing, or you can follow professional guidelines and do the testing yourself, but either way risks disturbing a small patch of asbestos-containing material, which can be harmful to your health.

If you're already planning a home repair or renovation, and your home was built before 1980, you may want to get the material you're using tested for asbestos. You may want to go ahead as though there was asbestos present without testing in the first place, for that matter; many construction crews will treat a building as though it contains asbestos if the building is old enough. If you're not planning to disturb any building materials, however, asbestos testing may not be a great idea. Since it risks exposing asbestos and allowing it to become airborne, it's less hazardous to simply let it be until you know it will have to be disturbed.

Asbestos air testing is an activity where a known volume of air is drawn through a filter over a measured period of time. With expertise across all public and private sectors, our experience is to be admired, we draw on best practice initiatives to continually improve the way we work. To know more about asbestos sample testing and asbestos air testing cost visit us now.