A dear friend who bought her 1970’s-vintage La Costa home ten years ago recently experienced a flooded bathroom that required the removal of drywall.
Discovered behind that wall was the dreaded A-word:
Asbestos.
She will have to move out of her home so that the guys in white suits and masks can come in and remove the lethal substance. Chris is taking it in good stride, and looks forward to returning to a repaired home.
This asbestos issue disturbs me on several levels, primarily because I worry about the health of my friend and her daughter. Hopefully because it was hidden behind a wall for all these years, there will be no after effects. I am also concerned on a professional level, because I represented this friend when she bought the home. I’m not worried about liability, but rather the nagging thoughts about what I might have done to detect this latent problem ten years ago.
Probably not much, given that this elementary school teacher was not likely to have spent her down payment on hiring guys in white suits to measure home air quality. And because the asbestos was sealed behind a wall and Chris is moving out during its removal, she will hopefully suffer no suffer ill effects.
The key health danger of asbestos exposure is mesothelioma–and a mesothelioma prognosis is generally a dire one with 2,000 to 3,000 new cases diagnosed in the United States each year. And though asbestos is a naturally-occurring substance (44 out of California’s 58 counties have it), it can be particularly lethal in the home and workplace, especially when disturbed.
As the illustration above shows (and courtesy of Mesothelioma Cancer Center) asbestos can be found lurking in textured (popcorn) ceilings, behind bathroom walls, around the home furnace and a number of different areas.
So what to do when buying a pre-1980 home or planning to remodel one? A good home inspector will be able to point out likely asbestos hiding spots, and if the surface is stable may recommend leaving it be until time to remodel or make repairs. At that time, it would be wise to call in expert asbestos removal experts–and plan on taking a short vacation.
And if you are going to replace asbestos insulation, consider replacing it with green alternatives such as cellulose, cotton fiber and other eco-friendly alternatives.
For additional research, you may wish to visit:
United Nations Environmental Program
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Thanks for sharing this valuable information on asbestos