Does collecting asbestos samples create any danger to other people in the area?
People often mischaracterise the nature of asbestos risk – while some precautions should be taken (and this mostly to protect the investigator), breaking off a small piece of asbestos for testing purposes is not dangerous. What is dangerous, and must be avoided at all costs, are activities that mechanically disturb the asbestos materials – such as drilling, grinding, sanding or water blasting. These activities create an immediate risk to anyone in the vicinity.
Of course you can only avoid these activities if you know where the asbestos materials are – So how risky is testing for asbestos materials? No measurable risk and much, much less risk than not testing.
As a precaution, we ask that people are not in the room while we collect samples or maintain a minimum distance of 5 or more metres wherever practicable during testing activities (this is required only at the moment of sampling). Our investigators wear a P2 mask to protect themselves from possible exposure during sampling activities.