Different Places You Wouldn’t Expect To Find Asbestos
Elyse Aufmann • September 29, 2021
Different Places You Wouldn’t Expect To Find Asbestos
As surprising as it seems, asbestos is still a common substance used in building materials in the United States. However, you might think we already learned our lesson about using it. The truth is, we haven’t learned, and asbestos is still a problem. Even if you believe you’re safe from asbestos, it’s still hanging around without us realizing it and causing us health problems later in life. Here’s a list of the different places you wouldn’t expect to find asbestos.
Churches
The use of asbestos inside of churches was to help prevent fires and to soundproof rooms. You might think that there’s no correlation between soundproofing and asbestos, but there is. Church maintenance workers added asbestos around acoustic panels so voices and music wouldn’t reverberate. For example, if someone played the organ in a church, the walls would prevent the noise from traveling outside.
So, to help exterminate your asbestos problem, hire a professional inspector to look over pipes and walls. They can determine if you have asbestos and help you remove it.
Schools
It’s well known that schools built before 1980 are riddled with asbestos or have products containing it. Even though the US government passed a bill in 1986 to protect students and school employees from asbestos, it still lingers in pipes, ceilings, and asbestos fibers.
Asbestos is commonly wrapped around pipes and boilers, inside vinyl flooring, ceiling tiles, and even HVAC ductwork. Asbestos is so prevalent that spotting the fibers in the air can be challenging if you remove it yourself.
Public Buildings
If a building was built any time before 1980, it would have an asbestos lining between the walls and floor tiles. Contractors continue to create new structures with asbestos material, vinyl tiles, and cement piping. Some buildings containing asbestos include restaurants, barbershops, grocery stores, and even airports.
If you believe there’s asbestos in your building or workplace, the federal government requires owners to remove the material properly using professional asbestos removal services. Removing asbestos material from a public building through Air Safe, Inc. not only saves workers and consumers from health problems but could also be the highlight of your career.
Hospitals
Hospitals used to openly use asbestos to prevent fires. They’d also use it to prevent medical equipment from overheating. When maintenance workers encounter asbestos-filled equipment, they’re incredibly vulnerable since they fix the equipment and remove it before demolishing the infested building.
As you begin to discover the different places you wouldn’t expect to find asbestos, you might suspect you have it in your home. In that case, give Air Safe, Inc. a call to help remove the harmful material from your home or public building. To help create a more sustainable, asbestos-free future, we need to do our part in carefully removing asbestos from buildings.
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