Decided to clear out part of the loft, but I think I may have found
some asbestos pipe insulation up there.

It is in pieces around 18 inches long, and is semi-circular. So two
pieces would surround a pipe and stay put with tape. The inside of
the insulation appears to made of a white powdery substance.

Now I have seen it I dont plan to touch it, but does anyone know if
there is any assistance available for safe removal of this stuff?

Many thanks

On 6 May 2004 08:07:41 -0700, (Philip) wrote:

Decided to clear out part of the loft, but I think I may have found
some asbestos pipe insulation up there.

It is in pieces around 18 inches long, and is semi-circular. So two
pieces would surround a pipe and stay put with tape. The inside of
the insulation appears to made of a white powdery substance.

Now I have seen it I dont plan to touch it, but does anyone know if
there is any assistance available for safe removal of this stuff?

Many thanks

Aspestos is fiberous, short thin sharp fibers that get stuck in your
lungs, but you should be able to see fibres, like when you rip paper.

The council will have a guy that can get rid of it, but it will cost.

Rick

"Rick Dipper" wrote in message
...
On 6 May 2004 08:07:41 -0700, (Philip) wrote:

Decided to clear out part of the loft, but I think I may have found
some asbestos pipe insulation up there.

It is in pieces around 18 inches long, and is semi-circular. So two
pieces would surround a pipe and stay put with tape. The inside of
the insulation appears to made of a white powdery substance.

Now I have seen it I dont plan to touch it, but does anyone know if
there is any assistance available for safe removal of this stuff?

Many thanks

Aspestos is fiberous, short thin sharp fibers that get stuck in your
lungs, but you should be able to see fibres, like when you rip paper.

The council will have a guy that can get rid of it, but it will cost.

Rick

Wear a respirator and disposable overalls, spray the section gently with
water to damp it which will stop any fibres floating around and carefully
bag it up in polythene. It will then be moveable with relative safety.
Obviously deal with it carefully and your council will tell you which
disposal site can take it off your hands.
Yes its potentially dangerous stuff but too many people get rabid about it.
Its also not always easy to see fibres in the stuff but there are many other
preformed insulation sections around which do not contain asbestos.

In article , John
writes

"Rick Dipper" wrote in message
.. .
On 6 May 2004 08:07:41 -0700, (Philip) wrote:

Decided to clear out part of the loft, but I think I may have found
some asbestos pipe insulation up there.

It is in pieces around 18 inches long, and is semi-circular. So two
pieces would surround a pipe and stay put with tape. The inside of
the insulation appears to made of a white powdery substance.

Now I have seen it I dont plan to touch it, but does anyone know if
there is any assistance available for safe removal of this stuff?

Many thanks

Aspestos is fiberous, short thin sharp fibers that get stuck in your
lungs, but you should be able to see fibres, like when you rip paper.

The council will have a guy that can get rid of it, but it will cost.

Rick

Wear a respirator and disposable overalls, spray the section gently with
water to damp it which will stop any fibres floating around and carefully
bag it up in polythene. It will then be moveable with relative safety.
Obviously deal with it carefully and your council will tell you which
disposal site can take it off your hands.
Yes its potentially dangerous stuff but too many people get rabid about it.

And too many people also get Asbestosis with it.

The OELs are a load of horse manure also - one fibre in your lung is all
that is required.

Its also not always easy to see fibres in the stuff but there are many other
preformed insulation sections around which do not contain asbestos.


It won't be easy to see the fibres that have floated about into crevices
in the loft and elsewhere in the building either.
The professionals are pretty efficient at removing it and have special
vacuums, PPE etc. to remove it safely.
Kitsons sell the gear.

www.kitsonsinsulation.co.uk
http://www.sheffins.co.uk/

While you are there they can see to all your insulation needs.

Their trade counter system is a little odd though compared to trade
counters generally. One goes into an office in Kitsons (seems a bit
strange walking into a company's open plan office) then they
electronically send a document down to the Sheffield Insulations trade
counter (which has nothing on show - mind you it's all big stuff)
collect the ticket then go to the warehouse to collect. I suppose they
are more used to taking telephone orders and I have gone in at the very
end of the working day after I have finished work.


\rlly do consider getting it professionally removed if there has been
much disturbance in the loft or there is a draught or other factors
which could have sent the fibres airborne. I'll tell you the lung cancer
ward is not a pleasant place.
--
Z
Remove all Zeds in e-mail address to reply.

On 6 May 2004 08:07:41 -0700, (Philip)
wrote:

Decided to clear out part of the loft, but I think I may have found
some asbestos pipe insulation up there.

How old is the house?

It is in pieces around 18 inches long, and is semi-circular. So two
pieces would surround a pipe and stay put with tape. The inside of
the insulation appears to made of a white powdery substance.

Taped in place it sounds to be rather too modern to be asbestos and
could be fibreglass or ceramic insulation. Chrysotile is an
obviously fibrous substance - not particularly powdery.

Now I have seen it I dont plan to touch it, but does anyone know if
there is any assistance available for safe removal of this stuff?

Not as you might expect, the asbestos removal scam is one of the more
profitable in local government. You ask the council to inspect/test.
They do (and charge you) and report it is chrysotile. They tell you
to use a "licensed" removal firm who will only charge you about
£2,000 to £5,000 for removing it.

On your site they wear fancy suits and breathing apparatus. Once
around the corner it all comes off and the harmless waste goes in the
tip.

There are no known cases of chrysotile (white asbestos) causing any
illness except in a few cases of occupational exposure to large
amounts over many years (blue asbestos is a different problem,
although the risk even then is minuscule from single exposure, but
you are highly unlikely to come across blue). In theory a single
particle of asbestos can cause illness. In practice it is a
naturally occurring product and every person in the country breathes
in quite a number of particles each and every day. Needless to say
those who make huge amounts of money from the clearance scam are the
most voluble in proclaiming the "risks".

--
Peter Parry.
http://www.wpp.ltd.uk/

Taped in place it sounds to be rather too modern to be asbestos

I agree with all that Peter says. Domestic pipes don't need the temperature
capability of asbestos, but I suppose someone could have filched an industrial
product intended for high pressure steam pipe. I'd go for damping before and
during removal, wear a mask and gloves, shower and wash overalls afterwards.
Bag in polythene and tape shut. Councils should have special bins (but may only
have one tip per county) and I doubt if they will charge if you take it to
them. If it is asbestos you are supposed to double bag and label it, in
practice the main thing is to get it to relative safety buried in a proper tip.

(OldScrawn) wrote in message ...

them. If it is asbestos you are supposed to double bag and label it, in
practice the main thing is to get it to relative safety buried in a proper tip.


There are 3 types of abestos: white, blue, brown. White is almost
harmless, the meso-thingy it causes occurs when workers are deluged
with snowballs of the stuff day after day. Not when they spray one
piece with paint/pva and come back next day and remove it.

Brown is the bad news stuff, blue less so. Its unfortunate they all
have the same name 'asbestos' or we'd almost certainly still be using
white asbestos. Cement has known risks too from its toxic thallium
content.


Regards, NT