Men in Suits and Asbestos in my Linoleum

January 11th, 2010. By LucyC

I’ve been writing about asbestos for almost two years now, and I thought I was fairly familiar with the types of products that contain asbestos and information about asbestos handling. But, as fate would have it, I’m about to get a lesson first hand.

Recently, I had a flood in my home, which affected the laundry and storage areas. The building I live in was constructed in 1980 and in those days they used linoleum that contained asbestos in the lining material.  Who knew? Not me.

So I’ve been told, “don’t handle the lino!”…”Stand back from the tile.” “Don’t try and remove it or take a peek yourself.” (Trust me, I had no plans to do anything of the sort! After all, isn’t that what restoration companies are for?)

I am now awaiting the arrival of men in suits—white suits—you know—HAZMAT gear.  And they’ll have the masks and gloves—the whole nine yards. (Of course my mind conjures up images of men in space suits—I’m thinking Apollo 13—maybe Kevin Bacon…sigh). Anyway, these “specialists” will set up a containment area inside my home, and somehow remove and transport the offending material down seven flights of stairs into a specially licensed vehicle that will take it away to some specially designed facility that will GET RID OF IT.

Needless to say, I’m the talk of my building: “Did you know there’s asbestos in the apartments?” “No! Where?” “In the laundry and storage areas.” “Oh, my goodness—we had ours taken out when we renovated.” My first question to that comment would be how? How did you have the lino taken out? Asbestos causes terminal lung disease, specifically asbestos mesothelioma, the life expectancy of which following diagnosis is about two years. So handling it yourself is really not a good idea.

Just in case you’re the do-it-yourself type—and you want to replace linoleum in your home or garage that may have originated in the 1980s or earlier—a word of advice—don’t. Instead, make a couple of phone calls, find out how to get it tested, and go from there. And if you’ve had a flood that’s affected any kind of old flooring— let the experts handle it.

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Mesothelioma

This was posted on Monday, January 11th, 2010 at 8:29 pm and is filed under Asbestos Mesothelioma . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.