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In my building there are some works happening. I asked about asbestos to contractors and they told me probably won't be a problem because asbestos was banned from UK long time ago.

But now seems they have found some in external panels in all windows. They told us in a letter

"The removal of AIB asbestos can now be carried from outside of building. However we still need to gain access to your property to seal around the panels. This should take 10-15 minutes to complete..."

After researching online and I have read that AIB asbestos is one of the worst. The contractors are watering the walls and told us to close the windows so I guess they have already started to remove AIB asbestos from other flats.

I have 5 months kid and I am worried about this. Should I arrange that my family moves away for some time during asbestos removal?

What is the risk involved?

I have some reasons to flee:

  • AIB Asbestos is the most dangerous
  • 2 adjacent buildings with 6 floors each one and 4 flats per floor makes 48 flats.
  • My kid is only 5 months old.
  • Even if the removal is from outside they need to protect each flat.

And some reasons to feel safe...

  • Seems that they are watering the walls to avoid having dust and preparing plastics to protect each house.
  • The removal is going to be from outside.
  • The works are ordered by local council.

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The risk is someone could inhale asbestos fibers and develop health problems far into the future. It's impossible to estimate the level of this risk, yet you need to do so in order to decide whether to vacate or not. Furthermore, if fibers could enter your flat, even if you vacated during the work, the fibers could still remain upon your return.

If the contractor doing the removal work is fully qualified to do this sort of work, the risk to your family should be negligible, yet there is always some risk even if infinitely small. Only you can decide if you're really comfortable with this or not, and what an appropriate response is. This is of course difficult without hard data, but there just isn't any.

One thing you could do is some airborne monitoring. This is often done as part of removal procedures anyway. I've no idea of the costs, and it only reflects levels during the testing period, but it may buy you some peace of mind.

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