hello I'm Jeff Clark the senior occupational hygienists at WorkSafeBC the house behind me is going to be demolished to make way for a new building but what the demolition contractor doesn't know is that the house contains asbestos I'm going to walk you through the house and show you the types of things that might contain asbestos asbestos is a fibrous mineral that's very tough and resistant to chemicals and heat up until the 1980's it was commonly used in building materials if these are disturbed such as when they are drilled sawed sanded or broken up during renovations or demolitions workers can breathe in asbestos fibers if workers breathe in enough asbestos fibers their lungs can suffer permanent damage and they may get lung cancer between 1996 and 2005 more than 380 workers in BC died from an asbestos related disease most of these workers were in the construction industry any house constructed before 1980 will probably contain some asbestos products to protect yourself from asbestos during renovations or demolition the most important thing you can do is to have the house surveyed by a qualified asbestos professional he or she will collect samples from suspected building products in the house and have them tested for asbestos building materials that do contain asbestos can look identical to materials that don't the only way to tell the difference is to have the materials analyzed by a qualified lab in some houses the asbestos containing materials can be in poor condition and can pose a risk to the person collecting the samples this house was vandalized by people looking for scrap metal like copper piping both plaster and drywall can contain asbestos the house had plaster and drywall upstairs and just drywall downstairs asbestos containing drywall filler or mud is very common in houses constructed before 1990 the mud is a finishing coat that's normally applied to the seams nail or screw holes and edges before a wall is painted sealings was sprayed on texturing may also contain asbestos many flooring materials contain asbestos older homes may have several layers of flooring here there are two layers of vinyl sheet flooring on top of a layer of vinyl floor tile in this case both flooring types contained asbestos the backing of the vinyl sheet flooring contained asbestos asbestos was also encased within the vinyl floor tile here is a clearer example of asbestos containing vinyl floor tile from another house fireplaces may contain asbestos boards or pads below the mantle or hidden at the back of the fireplace artificial embers and ashes and gas fireplaces may also contain asbestos houses can be heated by a furnace or boiler and this equipment especially older boilers may be insulated with asbestos seams and metal ducting are often covered with asbestos tape ducts and piping may also be wrapped in asbestos insulation these photos are examples from other houses even the cement or mastic used to seal pipes where they go through walls may contain asbestos the walls of the furnace room in this house are covered with asbestos cement board also known as transite most attics in BC are insulated and this insulation may contain asbestos sometimes there's more than one layer of insulation here pink fiberglass insulation is on top and a loose insulation is beneath loose insulation particularly vermiculite may contain asbestos you can see the asbestos fibers in this vermiculite sample that's under a microscope even the outside of the house should be checked for asbestos products including the putty around older windows although it was not found on this house asbestos cement siding was a commonly used material asbestos is also found in various roofing materials including asphalt roofing paper and asphalt shingles concrete block walls are hollow and the spaces may have been filled with the type of asbestos containing vermiculite insulation you could find in an attic for your safety any asbestos containing materials that are found during a work site survey must be removed by workers who are trained in asbestos removal and wear protective clothing and a respirator unless you're properly trained don't try it yourself this contractor was lucky only the flooring and the cement board and mastic in the furnace room contained asbestos these materials can easily be removed by trained professionals before you work on a house ask if it has been properly surveyed for asbestos take care and thanks for watching