Asbestos Monitoring

Asbestos has been in use since the 20th century in buildings. It was discovered much later that asbestos is a lethal substance when exposed for a long period of time. So the removal of asbestos in buildings was done stage by stage in a particular building.

After the particular building has been cleared of the asbestos, asbestos monitoring is done to the said building. These are the methods used:

Asbestos Monitoring with Smoke Testing

When removing asbestos an enclosure is created to do the removal of the materials. This is to make sure that the debris does not spread when the work is being done. In short the said enclosure has to be air tight. Since the enclosure will be air tight, logic dictates that there should be no air coming out of the enclosure. A colored smoke is inserted in the enclosure. Then the analyst views the enclosure from outside. All the corners and sides of the enclosure is inspected to make sure that there is no colored smoke coming out of the enclosure. If there is, this means there is a leak and it needs to be fixed. So a smoke test is done to ensure that the enclosure is in truth air tight.

Asbestos Leak Monitoring

This enclosure will be tested also for any leakages throughout the removal period. As the saying goes “To err is human, to forgive is divine”. Mistakes happen no matter how much precaution is taken. The enclosure has to be checked often for any leakages. We would never know where a leak might be. In this case no matter how small the leak, it has to be repaired as the impact will be life threatening. So to reduce the effect of a human error, leakage monitoring is done to the enclosure throughout the process.

Personal Equipment Asbestos Monitoring

The process of removing asbestos involves dust since there will be tiles/ roofs that will be removed. These dust particles can enter the lungs and cause harmful effects towards anyone who is inhaling these particles. To avoid this, the workers will be given protective gear to protect them from the harmful effects of asbestos. Even the chemical used during the removal process is harmful, so proper gear has to be provided to the workers. The gear and equipment has to be monitored to make sure that the workers do not get exposed.  Hence the equipment has to be monitored with strict standards.

Background Asbestos Monitoring

This is done before work commences. All the fibers in the air is tested to ensure that what type of fibers exist and if these fibers will be harmful when mixed with the asbestos. So a monitoring of the air around is important. We would not know the impact of chemicals when mixed together. So studying it prior to removing the asbestos substance would prevent many unwanted tragedies.

 

Asbestos monitoring has to be conducted. The EPA constantly reminds the contractors to do this. It is crucial as you can save lives. Do not take the chance, lets put safety first before anything else.