If you’re considering buying a new home or office in Essex, you may wonder whether there are asbestos risks. The short answer is yes. Manufacturers used asbestos as an insulating material in many building types before it was found to cause serious illnesses such as mesothelioma. So, we would recommend you get an asbestos survey in Essex performed on your property to be on the safe side.
Since the 1930s, asbestos has been used as an insulating material inside buildings to keep them warm or cool, depending on the season. This helped insulate buildings from extreme temperatures, keeping them comfortable for occupants while saving energy costs.
Asbestos was also often used as thermal insulation because its fibres are highly resistant to heat transfer through conduction (when one side becomes hot) but not convection (when hot air rises).
Although asbestos has been banned in many countries and is no longer used for construction materials, it was once used in many building types. Asbestos was mined and manufactured into various products for various applications.
Insulating material: Since the 1930s, asbestos has been used as an insulating material inside buildings to keep them warm or cool depending on the season. This helped insulate buildings from extreme temperatures, which kept them comfortable for occupants while also saving energy costs.
Fire retardant: When exposed to heat or flames, asbestos becomes brittle and crumbles easily; this makes it ideal for fireproofing products so that they won’t catch fire easily when exposed to extreme temperatures or flames.
Soundproofing material: In order to make quieter rooms within buildings (elevators), builders would use a layer of asbestos between two pieces of drywall or
plywood—this helped block out sound from other rooms inside the building so that when you stepped, it couldn’t be heard.
Although dangerous, there are various steps you can take to lower those risks and protect yourself from exposure if you have any concerns about the presence of ACMs in your building or home.
So what building types likely contain asbestos?
Commercial buildings were some of the most common building types to contain asbestos. Asbestos was often used in this type of building because it was cheap and easy to install. For example, if you work in an office or shop today, you may sit on a chair or use a phone that contains asbestos.
Offices: Offices are one of the most common commercial buildings to use asbestos because they were so widespread during their heyday (from the 1950s through the 1980s). If you work in an office today, it may have contained some level of asbestos during its construction phase or renovation period.
Shops: Shops (including pharmacies) are another type of commercial building where people have been exposed to high levels of airborne asbestos fibres over time due to their frequent usage by customers who would have been unaware of any potential health risks associated with using these products regularly for years before mesothelioma symptoms appeared later down the line after exposure ended.*
Factories: Factories were another very common place where workers would be constantly exposed through daily operations involving working with raw materials containing asbestos fibres while handling those materials directly without proper safety gear like masks or gloves.
Other building types include:
Schools, hospitals, factories and offices
Some types of public buildings
Private homes
Houses and flats
In short, many types of buildings may contain asbestos, but it’s important to understand which ones you have. If the building was built before 2000, the chances are good that it contains asbestos.
This doesn’t mean that all buildings constructed before this time will have asbestos, but if there are any suspicious symptoms or abnormalities in your home or business. If you suspect there could be a problem with asbestos-related illnesses such as mesothelioma, then you should contact a professional who can test for these substances so they can be removed safely and efficiently.
