Asbestos in Insulation

For a period, those who installed insulation were referred to as “asbestos workers” because asbestos was so closely associated with many different types of insulation. These insulation installers, or “asbestos workers”, handled materials on a daily basis that included asbestos as a key component.

Asbestos has been widely used in insulation in homes and businesses across the country and the globe. It is so widely used because it was the “miracle insulator.” It was able to trap heat or exclude heat in homes and businesses quite well while at the same time it retained an amazing ability to resist fire. This meant that a home or business could be made more efficient and safer at the same time.

Even today, nearly 40 years after it was first determined that asbestos was a serious health risk, insulation containing asbestos is still used to insulate a number of types of equipment where heat and / or fire are a concern. Some of these pieces of equipment include boilers, generators, ovens, pipes, electrical wires, and furnaces that have not been fitted with newer, safer insulating materials.

Most insulating materials are not disturbed very frequently, and are considered safe until the insulation is disturbed. However, insulation in many situations has to be cut or molded to fit into the space where it is most needed. As much insulation still contains asbestos, the process of cutting, sawing, sanding, or grinding insulation with asbestos in it to make it fit can disturb the asbestos fibers in the insulation. This creates the possibility of major exposure as it is possible for many asbestos fibers to be released into the air when insulation is cut or disturbed.

Veterans were likely to be exposed to asbestos in insulation in much of the military housing located in the United States and elsewhere. Many of the basic training locations used so heavily in the middle portion of the 20th century contained large quantities of asbestos-containing materials including insulation.

The dangers of asbestos insulation are not just for the family or business occupying a building with asbestos-containing insulation, but also for anyone who ever installed asbestos-containing insulation.

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For more information on the use of asbestos in insulation, or if you believe you have been exposed to dangerous asbestos fibers, contact us today at 800-781-3955.