Hi all, I'm 21 years old. About ten years ago, my parents decided to have two rooms in our house renovated, including removal of the popcorn ceilings. I was eleven years old at the time, so I knew nothing about asbestos or any of its related diseases or effects. All I remember was coming home from school to see the contractors scraping and knocking down the popcorn ceiling plaster in dusty pieces. Last year, I became concerned when I read an article about asbestos, and that it is found in popcorn ceilings. I then made the connection that those ceilings in those renovated rooms had been torn down without any protection ten years ago, and brought this to my parents' attention. They claimed that it was "safe", and that they doubted the ceilings contained asbestos. To be certain, I bought a home test kit and sampled the ceiling. It came back positive with 50 percent asbestos. To make matters worse, our central air conditioning intake vent is directly adjacent to one of the renovated rooms, which means that a good deal of asbestos dust from the renovation was probably sucked into the AC system and distributed around the house, and is probably still built up in the AC ducts.
I did further research on asbestos, and showed the test results to my parents, as well as information from online sources that I had printed out about the hazards of asbestos. I told them that although the renovation was a long time ago, we needed to hire an asbestos specialist to come out and assess the house for any lingering asbestos (especially in the carpeting/upholstery and AC system), and if found, have the house decontaminated. My parents refused, telling me that it was no big deal and that I was overreacting, despite me having shown them scientific documents about asbestos. They also said that they didn't want to pay for any type of assessment or clean-up because of the costs. My argument with them was to no avail, so I requested that they at least, for their and my siblings' health, not use the central AC anymore, because the ductwork is probably contaminated. They agreed to this, but I visited them at home the other day and the AC was running.
My questions are:
1. If my parents are unwilling to take action, is there anything I can do at this point? I have since moved out into my own apartment and no longer live with them, but I am concerned about their health and well-being. Furthermore, my younger sister still lives at home, and I am very worried about her continued exposure.
2. As with the first question, is there any legal action I can take against the contractors who came out and did the two bit renovation job without testing for asbestos first? Since this was ten years ago, I have no idea which company this was, or if they are even still in business.
3. Is there anything medically I can do for myself? I have done my research and know the symptoms of lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis, but is there anything else I can do besides be proactive in staying healthy and watching out for the symptoms? I know it takes 20-50 years for the diseases to manifest, and I'm halfway to reaching that 20 year danger zone. Should I tell my doctor about the exposure? My parents though, have warned me to keep my mouth shut in regard to telling anybody about it, despite them maintaining that asbestos is not a hazard.
I'm not even sure where to start or what else to do at this point, any advice is greatly appreciated.
I did further research on asbestos, and showed the test results to my parents, as well as information from online sources that I had printed out about the hazards of asbestos. I told them that although the renovation was a long time ago, we needed to hire an asbestos specialist to come out and assess the house for any lingering asbestos (especially in the carpeting/upholstery and AC system), and if found, have the house decontaminated. My parents refused, telling me that it was no big deal and that I was overreacting, despite me having shown them scientific documents about asbestos. They also said that they didn't want to pay for any type of assessment or clean-up because of the costs. My argument with them was to no avail, so I requested that they at least, for their and my siblings' health, not use the central AC anymore, because the ductwork is probably contaminated. They agreed to this, but I visited them at home the other day and the AC was running.
My questions are:
1. If my parents are unwilling to take action, is there anything I can do at this point? I have since moved out into my own apartment and no longer live with them, but I am concerned about their health and well-being. Furthermore, my younger sister still lives at home, and I am very worried about her continued exposure.
2. As with the first question, is there any legal action I can take against the contractors who came out and did the two bit renovation job without testing for asbestos first? Since this was ten years ago, I have no idea which company this was, or if they are even still in business.
3. Is there anything medically I can do for myself? I have done my research and know the symptoms of lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis, but is there anything else I can do besides be proactive in staying healthy and watching out for the symptoms? I know it takes 20-50 years for the diseases to manifest, and I'm halfway to reaching that 20 year danger zone. Should I tell my doctor about the exposure? My parents though, have warned me to keep my mouth shut in regard to telling anybody about it, despite them maintaining that asbestos is not a hazard.
I'm not even sure where to start or what else to do at this point, any advice is greatly appreciated.