Damaged asbestos tiles under carpeting and worried


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Old 12-23-16, 12:55 PM
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Damaged asbestos tiles under carpeting and worried

So about three weeks ago we had a flea infestation and I went nuts cleaning.
We used have carpeting on the stairs that I had been wanting to rip off the since the summertime. Well, I finally did it to deter the flea population.

Not until this past week have I come to find out the tiles that were underneath are asbestos (9x9 and they have a certain pattern to them that I've seen on other asbestos tiles). I did not clean the stairs until this week (so a couple weeks after I've taken the carpeting off) because I had been more concerned about cleaning everything else in the house to get rid of the fleas.

My main concern is that some of the tiles are damaged and cracked in certain areas and we have been walking on them in order to get to our washer and drier and to feed the cats and change their litter box (we isolated them from the upstairs for a couple weeks so I can clean). Could we have possibly tracked asbestos fibers everywhere? I'm worried now.
 
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Old 12-23-16, 01:37 PM
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To tell if they are asbestos tiles they have to be tested. Looks mean nothing. Asbestos must be airborne to be a problem If you sanded or something to break up the fibers you should be ok. Tiles would have to at least 30 years old to have asbestos in them.
 
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Old 12-23-16, 02:05 PM
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Welcome.

As Pugs said, you are OK. It wouldn't hurt to run disposable mopping pads as a final cleanup.

Asbestos and Lead dangers are all about disturbance/friability.
Disturbance is usually defined as grinding, sanding, boring, etc. The dust is going airborne.
You're not disturbing anything just by walking over it.
 
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Old 12-23-16, 02:12 PM
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If you sanded or something to break up the fibers you should be ok.
I believe he meant 'if you didn't sand or break of the fibers you should be ok'

As long as the asbestos is in solid form the danger is minimal, it's when it gets airborne - that's a concern!
 
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Old 12-24-16, 10:40 AM
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I would not worry about it. When you clean up the rest of it, just mist it with water to do away with dust.
 
 

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