Asbestos fibers do not evaporate into air or dissolve in water. However, pieces of fibers can enter the air and water from the weathering of natural deposits and the wearing down of manufactured asbestos products.
These tiny particles mix in with dust and can stay airborne for hours. Many sources suggest fibers can stay airborne for 48 – 72 hours. But the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports a wider range. The EPA reports a range of 4 – 80 hours for asbestos fibers to settle from a height of 9 feet.
Asbestos fibers are also virtually indestructible. They are resistant to chemicals and heat, and they are very stable in the environment. They do not evaporate into air or dissolve in water, and they are not broken down over time.
Asbestos particles range from 0.7 to 90 microns. Luckily HEPA filters capture over 99% of all particle sizes (even the smallest particles) 0.3 microns, so they should capture plenty of asbestos. The graph below shows the hardest sized particle for a HEPA air purifier to filter is around . 3 microns.
One-time exposure to asbestos can cause diseases, including mesothelioma cancer. Researchers have found repeated exposure to asbestos increases the risk of developing asbestos-related cancers. The risk to individuals who have a one-time exposure to asbestos is generally lower compared to long-term or repeated exposure.
Usually, one-time asbestos exposure isn't a major risk. However, it can be in rare cases with toxic dust. Typically, asbestos diseases arise from long-term exposure at work. If you were exposed to asbestos for one day, the health risk depends on how much dust you inhaled.
Ambient, or background, air usually contains between 10 and 200 asbestos fibres in every 1000 litres (or cubic metre) of air (equivalent to 0.01 to 0.20 fibres per litre of air) meaning we may breath up to 5000 fibres per day. However, it is extremely rare to get an asbestos-related disease from this level of exposure.
It is difficult to tell when asbestos is in the air. The tiny fibers have no odor or taste, and they do not irritate your eyes or throat or make your skin itch. If you know or suspect there is asbestos in your home or workplace, leave the material alone.
Can asbestos be removed from the lungs? No known method exists to remove asbestos fibers from the lungs once they are inhaled. Some types of asbestos are cleared naturally by the lungs or break down in the lungs.
HEPA-certified filters remove 99.97% of all air pollutants down to a size of 0.01 microns in a single pass, including asbestos particles.
There's no cure for asbestosis once it has developed, as it's not possible to reverse the damage to the lungs.
It's possible to wash asbestos out of clothes, but you should leave this job to the professionals. Trying to decontaminate clothes at home can cause more contamination. Asbestos fibers can end up in the washing machine, on other clothes and even in the air.
The EPA monitors these methods. As a result of water treatment, most U.S. water supplies don't contain toxic asbestos levels.
Well-ventilated spaces can disperse asbestos fibres more quickly, reducing the risk of high-concentration exposure. However, good ventilation might not be sufficient to remove all risks; it is usually required to be supplemented with professional asbestos removal.
Do not dust, sweep, or vacuum debris that may contain asbestos. These steps will disturb tiny asbestos fibers and may release them into the air. Remove dust by wet mopping or with a special HEPA vacuum cleaner used by trained asbestos contractors.
Because the fibers are resistant to chemicals, they are also very stable in the environment. Asbestos fibers do not evaporate into air or dissolve in water, and they are not broken down over time.
One of the most worrying issues with asbestos is that in the event that it does get disturbed, it can be easily released into the air, and remain there for some time. It is thought that disturbed asbestos can stay airborne for as long as 48 to 72 hours before settling.
Is one-time asbestos exposure dangerous? There is minimal risk in being exposed to asbestos one time. In fact, most people have been exposed to asbestos at some time in their lives.
Some studies show that up to 20% of all workers who breathe in asbestos will develop a disease from exposure to asbestos. Not all workers who develop asbestos related disease will have asbestosis. There are other diseases that asbestos can cause, including: Interstitial lung disease (ILD).
If you think there may be asbestos in your home, don't panic. Asbestos-containing materials that aren't damaged or disturbed are not likely to pose a health risk. Usually the best thing is to leave asbestos-containing material alone if it is in good condition.
Vacuum cleaners for removing asbestos automatically control the speed of the air flow. If it falls below the limit value of 20 m/s, the low-flow indicator will inform you of this. The vacuum is constructed so that the extracted air is guided or cleaned in such a way that asbestos fibres don't enter the user's airways.
If you breathe asbestos fibers, you may increase the risk of several serious diseases, including asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer. Asbestos exposure may increase your risk for cancers of the digestive system, including colon cancer.
Asbestos, however, does not have a smell. Rooms with the carcinogen built into the floors, walls, and ceiling do not have a detectable odor. Even heavy amounts of asbestos dust are odorless or smell like normal dust. Yet, people usually inhale tiny (nearly invisible) asbestos particles through the nose or mouth.
It can take from 10 to 40 years or more for symptoms of an asbestos-related condition to appear (2). There is some evidence that family members of workers heavily exposed to asbestos face an increased risk of developing mesothelioma (12).