Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral composed of soft and flexible fibers that are resistant to heat, electricity and corrosion. These qualities make the mineral useful, but they also make asbestos exposure highly toxic.

Asbestos is an effective insulator, and it can be used in cloth, paper, cement, plastic and other materials to make them stronger. But when asbestos dust is inhaled or ingested, mineral fibers can become permanently trapped in the body.

Alliance Environmental is a licensed asbestos abatement company.

Asbestos removal is the process of safely removing asbestos from a building and disposing of it. Ingesting or inhaling asbestos is dangerous, so following specific procedures for abatement and disposal is critical to the health and safety of those inhabiting your building and the surrounding environment.

Asbestos removal involves four stages:

• Planning: Determining which areas need treatment, how treatment and cleanup will proceed and where the abatement professionals will take the asbestos.
• Site preparation: Sealing air ducts, disabling HVAC systems, covering surfaces with plastic sheets and depressurizing the air to prevent asbestos fibers from spreading.
• Removal: Implementing wet methods and specialized tools to remove asbestos and place it into disposal bags.
• Cleanup: High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) vacuuming of any remaining asbestos, removing site preparation materials, inspecting and sampling interior air, reporting results and taking the asbestos to a safe depository.

While stable, undisturbed asbestos poses little danger, it can have detrimental health effects if dislodged.

Asbestos comprises minuscule fibers that kick up like dust without proper abatement techniques. The dust is small enough to inhale or ingest. If asbestos fibers enter the lungs, the body is incapable of breaking them down. The fibers can become permanently lodged within bodily tissue and lead to conditions like mesothelioma, asbestosis or lung cancer.

Agitating asbestos fibers can become dangerous quickly, so it’s critical to use the personal protective equipment (PPE) and tools that professional abatement companies have at their disposal.

Determining whether or not your building contains asbestos often requires a professional examination. Asbestos occurs naturally in the rocks and soils once used to construct insulation, linoleum, ductwork, drywall and other building features.

Buildings constructed after 1978 are less likely to use materials containing asbestos, although builders used it until its production ceased in 1987. If you believe your commercial building may contain asbestos, pursue a professional inspection prior to removing insulation material and other old build materials.

When it comes to asbestos removal, safety is the number one priority. Asbestos exposure can cause immense damage to your long-term health, so it’s almost always necessary to seek professional abatement assistance. Alliance Environmental has the resources for safe asbestos abatement. Our asbestos professionals wear PPE that prevents asbestos fibers from affecting their eyes, ears and lungs. We also follow safe disposal procedures that protect your building and the environment.

In addition to safety, there are also precise regulations to follow when removing asbestos. States independently determine regulations for removal and disposal. Our professional crews will comply with all relevant regulations in your area.

Asbestos abatement takes a few days depending on the size of the project. Most commercial projects take between one and five days.

During the first day, the abatement team handles all containment and site preparation work. The asbestos removal procedures occur over the next few days. Removing asbestos from residential and smaller commercial buildings typically takes a day or two, and clearing larger commercial facilities often takes three days or more. Cleanup and teardown often occur on the last day of asbestos removal if the monitor grants permission.

If you’ve experienced asbestos exposure, the first indicators will be symptoms of associated diseases. Asbestos most often affects the lungs, so you may notice symptoms like shortness of breath, dry coughing or wheezing, chest pain or other respiratory complications. In some cases, asbestos will impact the throat, stomach or colon, so symptoms like abdominal swelling, difficulty swallowing, bowel obstruction or loss of appetite may occur.

Asbestos-related diseases are usually discreet in their early stages, so preemptive screening is advisable if you have a history of exposure.

Symptoms of asbestos exposure take time to present, so there aren’t short-term side effects. Even inhaling high amounts of asbestos fails to produce immediate symptoms. The adverse health effects of asbestos are long-term, often taking years or decades to develop. In most cases, the first symptoms to appear are those related to lung conditions, such as shortness of breath or chest pain. Speak with your doctor if you believe you’ve experienced asbestos exposure.

Asbestos exposure has long-term health effects that usually take time to develop and present themselves. Over time, asbestos exposure can result in asbestosis and pleural plaques.

Asbestosis occurs 10 to 40 years after exposure and includes symptoms like shortness of breath, dry coughing, chest pain and clubbing toes or fingertips.

Pleural plaques are accumulations of collagen fibers in the lungs that appear 10 to 30 years after asbestos exposure. Symptoms of pleural plaques are few, but they indicate an increased risk of lung cancer.

All asbestos-related diseases can eventually manifest as lung cancer, mesothelioma, laryngeal cancer or ovarian cancer.