Are these heating pipes covered in Asbestos?

Denise_S

Hello everyone, I am wondering if these pipes are covered in Asbestos? And what would be a recommended treatment for them if so.

Steamhead

Definitely. In the first two pics it appears someone removed it but didn't get it all.

bburd

The remaining asbestos pipe covering is in poor condition, which means it is friable and fibers are getting into the air. That needs to be remediated following protocols to minimize the inhalation hazard.

Big Ed_4

Spray it down with water in the mean time ...

pecmsg

No one can say without having samples analyzed!

I would say it’s a safe bet but can’t tell from a picture!

Mad Dog_2

True the only fool-proof way is professional sampling & Air monitoring by a Licensed Asbestos Abatement Contractor.  In NYC, we are licensed by The D.E.P. & The NYS Department of labor.  1) I don't know what part of the building it is, but you can , STAY OUT until a Pro gets there.  Every time you walk In the room you're stirring up microscopic fibers.  2) If you MUST work around it today, WARM, SOAPY, WATER (Like Joy Liquid) in a spray bottle and soak down ANYTHING on, beneath or around it. Get a Magenta Respirator (Home Depot Lowes Hardware store) and Don it each time u must go near it. 3) If you MUST do emergency work on a leaking pipe under or adjacent to the Covering, purchase some
3 M #77 Rubberized Aerosol spray and spray it all down wearing Magenta  Respirator.  This will "freeze" the friable
ACM in its place until the Crew can get there.  

*I'd bet it tests POSITIVE for ACM.  But please get it tested and abated by a Pro. Insist on 3rd party air monitoring before - during - and after.  

Please follow up with us. And DONT do this yourself!   You're lungs and the buildings occupants lungs will thank you.  Mad Dog 🐕 

Mad Dog_2

Also,  This is not as expensive as it used to be.  There are MANY companies that do it now.  Last, if you can afford it, remove ALL exposed ACM while the crew is it at it.  Mad Dog 

Kickstand55

It sure looks like it. Probably on the floor too. Don't be tracking it into the living quarters.
Have it removed professionally, including cleaning the floor and other surfaces.
Be safe!

Mad Dog_2

So......Did you get a few quotes? I hope you're not thinking of doing it yourself.....I'm always amazed at the highly educated and street people that will do it on the fly...Mad Dog

Bob Harper

You now have a defect that not only is an immediate hazard to the occupants but anyone who would have cause to enter the property. Therefore, according to the codes, it must be remediated. This is a defect that would now have to be reported on a real estate sale disclosure. As the others have stated, get it done properly asap. Whether you recognize the hazards of ACM, it is not just a health hazard but a liability. You need the documentation from a pro it was remediated properly.

Mad Dog_2

Well said, Bob.  This is a subject dear to my heart as I was "layed off" several times in the early days for refusing to rip it out. My Union sponsor and also my best foreman died from asbestosis.  I've seen so many people dismiss it as harmless because they are trying to save a buck. I also lost a few boiler replacements because of it: "None of the other plumbers is making and issue out of it! What's the big deal...they said they'll take care of it."  When you get silence from the OP, I get a bad feeling.  I hope I'm wrong.  Mad Dog 🐕 

FStephenMasek

Mad Dog_2 said:

True the only fool-proof way is professional sampling & Air monitoring by a Licensed Asbestos Abatement Contractor.

That sounds like a conflict of interest. It is much better to have a good asbestos consultant do asbestos surveys. The same people / companies also typically provide lead surveys, mold and indoor air quality surveys, and other environmental services. In California, it is illegal for a common ownership to perform both the asbestos survey and the asbestos removal on a project. The two problems are finding what is not present, and ignoring what is not most profitable to remove.

Mad Dog_2

Yes, Stephen illegal in NYS as well.  A third party air sampling company is required.  I rushed my punctuation!   The Problem I have seen with that, is that working together on the same projects, the two separate entities usually get friendly and the lines blurred sometimes...if you get me. 
On another note, a mischievous old plumber friend I have didn't "buy" the whole dog and pony show  that was going on at his particular job. He doubted the air monitoring was really doing anything.  So, he took off some chunks of friable ACM from the containment area before their shift and no one was looking would pulverize the chunks right in front of the air sampling monitors (an inch away).  He did this for several nights.  I don't know if they were defective or someone wasn't looking at the data or no one cared, but he said nothing ever came if it and the job continued for weeks.  As a Licensed handler myself, I worked under an older guy who didn't care.  He would take off his Respirator WHILE ABATING!  He would do a Half-A---d job building the containment plastic enclosures. He would also come in and out of the containment area all the time...no shower...not a care in the world.  Its funny, he constantly coughed and cleared his throat...hmmmm...asbestosis anyone??? Mesothelioma??? Lung Cancer ♋?  He took the same classes I did and was doing it for years...just thought the whole thing was an act.  Mad Dog 🐕 

Dave Carpentier

There is two main types of asbestos, if I recall.
One is like curly hairs, you cough that out like anything else.
The other type is more like short rods. Those get stuck down in your air sac bits, and you now have an issue. You might die of natural causes (or anything else) before that issue comes to fruition, but no point messing with the rods and raise your risks of an early demise.

Mad Dog_2

Yes, Dave....like barbs on a spear-fishing fork and some reptiles teeth that face backwards...They go in...they no come out.  I know there's nothing we can do but edify and warn people, but I've seen this so often.  These same people dismiss it as a "possible danger" a long time down the line.  Its not a pitbull ready to attack you or a piano that going to fall on you, so how dangerous could it be?  Tsk..tsk..Mad Dog 

ChrisJ

Dave Carpentier said:

There is two main types of asbestos, if I recall.
One is like curly hairs, you cough that out like anything else.
The other type is more like short rods. Those get stuck down in your air sac bits, and you now have an issue. You might die of natural causes (or anything else) before that issue comes to fruition, but no point messing with the rods and raise your risks of an early demise.

From Wikipedia.


The most common diseases associated with chronic asbestos exposure are asbestosis (scarring of the lungs due to asbestos inhalation) and mesothelioma (cancer associated with asbestos).[8] Mesothelioma is an aggressive form of cancer and often leads to a life expectancy of less than 12 months after diagnosis.[103]

All types of asbestos fibers are known to cause serious health hazards in humans and animals.[104][105][106] Amosite and crocidolite are considered the most hazardous asbestos fiber types;[107][108] however, chrysotile asbestos has also produced tumors in animals and is a recognized cause of asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma in humans,[109] and mesothelioma has been observed in people who were occupationally exposed to chrysotile, family members of the occupationally exposed, and residents who lived close to asbestos factories and mines.[110]

During the 1980s and again in the 1990s, the asbestos industry suggested at times that the process of making asbestos cement could "neutralize" the asbestos, either via chemical processes or by causing the cement to attach to the fibers and changing their physical size; subsequent studies showed that this was untrue and that decades-old asbestos cement, when broken, releases asbestos fibers identical to those found in nature, with no detectable alteration.[111]

Exposure to asbestos in the form of fibers is always considered dangerous. Working with, or exposure to, material that is friable, or materials or works that could cause the release of loose asbestos fibers, is considered high risk. In general, people who become ill from inhaling asbestos have been regularly exposed in a job where they worked directly with the material.[112]

The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has standards to protect workers from the hazards of exposure to asbestos in the workplace. The permissible exposure limit for asbestos is 0.1 fiber per cubic centimeter of air as an eight-hour time-weighted average, with an excursion limit of 1.0 asbestos fibers per cubic centimeter over a 30-minute period.[113]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos