Burning Asbestos Siding

Asbestos containing materials acms should never be burnt as doing so can release harmful asbestos fibres into the air in the form of smoke.

Burning asbestos siding.

Wrap asbestos siding in 6 mil thick plastic sheeting and secure the plastic with duct tape or place the debris in heavy duty plastic bags. Building collapse often burning or fire damaged buildings collapse. The only time a building containing asbestos can be burned is when a fire department does it as a training exercise. Even a single airborne fiber of the most dangerous types of asbestos can eventually cause a particular form of lung cancer if inhaled.

Asbestos cement is a mixture of portland cement reinforced with asbestos fibers. Burning asbestos tiles tiles or other materials made of asbestos can catch fire thus releasing fibers into the air and exposing people to asbestos related illness. Asbestos tape used for oil burning apparatus oven pull strings insulating armatures. Asbestos cement was first developed in 1905 by the johns manville company who became one of the premier manufacturers of cement asbestos materials.

Asbestos is resistant to heat and fire hence that is why it was used as an ideal fire proofing and insulation material. If necessary carefully lift siding pieces with pry tool to expose nail heads. A brief history of asbestos cement siding. Fibres can be mixed with cement or woven into fabric or sheet boarding.

When these structures catch fire asbestos products become damaged and release carcinogenic fibers that become airborne and transportable by smoke. Breakage releases asbestos fibers. Remove pieces of siding by pulling nails or cutting nail heads so as to minimize breakage. Asbestos cement roof ing is described just below and cement wallboard and cement siding containing asbestos are described later in this document.

Wildfires pose a threat for asbestos exposure as they move into cities and residential neighborhoods with structures built before 1980 when asbestos was a commonly used in construction. If siding should begin to crack or crumble immediately wet the cracked or broken areas with the pint size spray bottle or garden pump sprayer. It s pretty serious but according to health canada one of the world s leading sources of unbiased information on the subject if. Dispose of the asbestos properly at a landfill or contact your local waste collection service to find out if they will pick up asbestos material.

And make no mistake asbestos is dangerous. This can release even more asbestos fibers into the air. The portland cement binds asbestos fibers into a hard mass. If there is more than the regulated amount of acm 260 linear feet 160 square feet or 35 cubic feet of friable acm or acm that will become friable during burning then all asbestos materials both friable and nonfriable must.

Asbestos fibre is a natural occuring mineral rock see photo which was mined and crushed then the asbestos fibres were bound together to be used as fire retardent and insulation materials. Because asbestos is not flammable it cannot be disposed of through burning.