Asbestos in Popcorn Ceilings

[Blue Water]

When I was a little kid, I used to pick at the popcorn ceiling at my Grandma's house.

Am I doomed to get lung cancer from asbestos now?

 

[gaze]

Probably not. the people who get mesothelioma are the ones who come into constant contact with the stuff over a course of years. For example construction workers, or the wives of construction workers who wash the clothes, or handymen type people. And even within this population of people, its usually a small percentage of them and usually they're pretty unhealthy. There is the odd ball horror story of a one time exposure causing it, but your probably more likely to die another way than to have that happen. I went through similar fears from exposure to the stuff, but I reminded myself that stressing about it is more likely to get me killed then the actual thing. I even asked ray about it, and he said its true the body cant remove it once its in the lung, but all the anti inflamatory things keep it at bay.

 

[Infarouge]

Always a good idea (?) to name asbestos pellets after a edible children love

 

[Spud]

Only found in a small % of popcorn ceilings if the vermiculite has contamination. Maybe you were exposed, maybe not.

 

[hei]

How did you get up to the ceiling?

 

[Blue Water]

How did you get up to the ceiling?

It was a very low ceiling, I would stand on top of the bed stand to reach it. The texture of the ceiling was what drew me to it.

 

[Blue Water]

Only found in a small % of popcorn ceilings if the vermiculite has contamination. Maybe you were exposed, maybe not.

Even if it's an old house? Definitely was built in the 60's or 70's

 

[tankasnowgod]

When I was a little kid, I used to pick at the popcorn ceiling at my Grandma's house.

Am I doomed to get lung cancer from asbestos now?

LOL! Seriously, I did laugh out loud when I read this.

If you drive a car, or walk alongside traffic, that's probably a far bigger concern for lung cancer.

 

[Spud]

Yeah mate, even from the 60s or 70s. Vermiculite is the mineral used for the popcorn effect and there’s only asbestos if the mine contains trace asbestos which it doesn’t always. Same as how there was that asbestos scare with talc years ago.
Only way to know would be to get a sample tested if you still have access to the house. That being said, everyone on the planet, even children, have some asbestos in their lungs. Chances are, you’ll be fine.

 

[gaze]

be warned however that silica, which replaced asbestos, may be just as bad when the dust is inhaled. definitly try to avoid any construction sites, or don't do major construction work at your own home DIY style. silica is in almost everything now, tiles, dry wall, etc

 

[Spud]

Agreed. But again, it depends on the form. Crystalline silica is the worst.
Same Goes for asbestos. Inhaling amphibole is much worse than inhaling chrysotile asbestos.
At the end of the day you don’t want any foreign particles in your lungs.

 

[Blue Water]

Probably not. the people who get mesothelioma are the ones who come into constant contact with the stuff over a course of years. For example construction workers, or the wives of construction workers who wash the clothes, or handymen type people. And even within this population of people, its usually a small percentage of them and usually they're pretty unhealthy. There is the odd ball horror story of a one time exposure causing it, but your probably more likely to die another way than to have that happen. I went through similar fears from exposure to the stuff, but I reminded myself that stressing about it is more likely to get me killed then the actual thing. I even asked ray about it, and he said its true the body cant remove it once its in the lung, but all the anti inflamatory things keep it at bay.

I've been reading chrysolite can be cleared actually. Much faster than some other forms of asbestos.

 

[pro marker]

LOL! Seriously, I did laugh out loud when I read this.

If you drive a car, or walk alongside traffic, that's probably a far bigger concern for lung cancer.

god do i even wanna know? what exactly is causing cancer IN a car? gasoline seeping into the car?

 

[Spud]

Chrysotile can be broken down in the lungs but not 100%. No such luck with amphibole.

 

[Blue Water]

Chrysotile can be broken down in the lungs but not 100%. No such luck with amphibole.

Do you think there is any way to mobilize it faster? like chelating asbestos ? Lol

 

[Spud]

No. It’s not something that you can chelate like a metal. There are resins that can remove it asbestos lab settings but none that you can ingest. Chrysotile is susceptible to acids and can break down over time. It also causes less damage because they are coiled fibre where as amphiboles fibres are like needles. Amphiboles pierce and kill the macrophages that try to remove them and this causes the inflammation, that over time, leads to the cancer and scarring of the lungs. The body also covers the amphibole fibres in iron, which causes oxidative damage.

 

[ursidae]

I got a ceiling like that...

 

[Rafael Lao Wai]

I got a ceiling like that...

 

[Blue Water]

No. It’s not something that you can chelate like a metal. There are resins that can remove it asbestos lab settings but none that you can ingest. Chrysotile is susceptible to acids and can break down over time. It also causes less damage because they are coiled fibre where as amphiboles fibres are like needles. Amphiboles pierce and kill the macrophages that try to remove them and this causes the inflammation, that over time, leads to the cancer and scarring of the lungs. The body also covers the amphibole fibres in iron, which causes oxidative damage.

So how do you make a lung environment acidic? I did read about that a bit. It did seem chrysotile was like broken and spit out to some degree as you mentioned.

Thankfully the popcorn ceilings are mostly made of chrysotile.

I got a ceiling like that...

Ironically I'm staying in a short-term rental that has them. And there are literally some cracks and holes in the wall.

Over time, I think there is just more asbestos floating around these types of places because there is degradation and even just closing doors can cause some friction that releases some asbestos probably. And then it gets stuck in carpets and stuff and when cleaned or just when walked on, gets re-circulated. So basically there is probably always a higher proportion of asbestos in these popcorn ceiling places.

But I figure (and obviously its better to just not live in these places at all, or for very long) that unless you're inhaling a TON of chrysotile dust at once, you should be fine, because chrysotile does break down and has some dose-dependency negative effects. The amphiboles are the ones that, as mentioned, can cause cancer in smaller doses..

 

[Spud]

The macrophages release acids, you can’t do anything to make the environment acidic.