Protect Your Family from Exposure to Asbestos

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Asbestos is not easy to identify to the untrained eye. Unless it is labeled, it will normally take a trained specialist to identify whether the substance is asbestos. If you believe there has been exposure, it is advisable to call for an inspection of your home to be completely sure. 

A trained and accredited asbestos professional has the knowledge and tools to identify whether a substance is asbestos or not. If your home was built before 1978, it is possible that asbestos is present. Therefore, if you are planning on remodeling your old home or have noticed drywall or insulation that is falling apart, you should consider getting your home inspected for the presence of asbestos. 

Dangers of Asbestos Exposure

Over time, exposure to asbestos fibers in the air may cause the development of asbestos-related diseases. The most notable is mesothelioma, a vicious form of cancer that can only be caused by asbestos exposure. 

Asbestosis and lung cancer are two other potential diseases that are caused by asbestos exposure. However, it should be noted that asbestos can also be ingested which may cause issues in the throat, stomach, and even the colon. 

However, such exposure can only occur if the asbestos is compromised. Asbestos that is still tightly wrapped and in good condition poses no risk to anyone living inside the home. Only when this material is exposed to the open air should you be concerned about exposure.

What to Do

A home inspection is a good idea whether you intend on selling, remodeling, or not. Knowing what is in your home will help you make the best-informed decision. 

If you suspect that an area may contain asbestos, the best policy is to leave it alone. If such areas can be sealed off, then do so. Do not dust, sweep, or vacuum such areas as that can potentially increase the asbestos fibers and make them airborne. 

How Brickley Environmental Can Help

If your home was built before 1978, it is possible that asbestos is present. While the chances of asbestos being in the home are much lower compared to a facility, you should call the experts at Brickley Environmental for further guidance. 

Brickley Environmental has the knowledge, experience, and equipment to properly identify and remove asbestos from your home. If you suspect asbestos is present give us a call today. 

For more info on asbestos, visit the EPA website here.

 

Consequences of Flooding

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While it may seem that flooding is nothing but catastrophic damage, it is actually more complicated than that. Flooding can destroy lives, properties, and alter the landscape for a long time. With more people living near coastlines, rivers, and flood zones, the increase in damage to properties has escalated over the past century. 

The immediate impact of flooding is apparent, but long-term recovery is something that also needs to be considered. From healing the injured to rebuilding structures, the damage of flooding is considerable. 

Immediate Consequences

The most immediate impact of flooding is the destruction of homes and businesses. While the structures may still be sound, they must be thoroughly dried, cleaned, and sanitized before people can move back in. The type of damage is not going to be limited to the water. There are also contaminants that range from debris to viruses, diseases, toxic chemicals, and in the case of the 2011 tsunami in Japan, radiation from a nuclear power plant. 

While such extreme occurrences with nuclear power are quite rare, the damage caused by flooding averages about $2.4 billion each year. From small floods caused by overflowing streams to massive flooding resulting from dam breaks to snow melting and even earthquakes that change the flow of rivers or signal a tsunami can cause considerable damage. 

Long Term Damage 

Flooding impacts urban areas the most. From the physical damage to the disruption of traffic flow, cities are normally the hardest hit because they have the highest concentration of people. Even rural areas can be heavily damaged by flooding. Although farmland may receive a long-term benefit from the nutrients that many floods bring to the land. 

In addition to the physical damage are the social impacts that flooding has on the community. Families being displaced, the mental trauma of losing loved ones, pets, and property, and the consequences of having to recover from those losses can be considerable. 

Mitigating some of the damage caused by flooding starts with long-term planning by communities and putting guidelines in place. Plus, adding flood control areas to minimize the potential damage. This is something that can also be done by home and business owners.

How Brickley Environmental Can Help

Brickley Environmental offers the knowledge, experience, and tools to ensure that your property is cleaned up if you’ve experienced flood damage. Give the experts at Brickley Environmental a call and they can help you make the best-informed decision about what steps to take next in protecting your family or employees from the dangers that floods bring to your property. 

For more information on flooding, click here to visit the NSSL website.

Finding New Buildings in the Dust of the Old

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With the continued and growing emphasis on sustainability in construction we could be on the verge of a radical shift in how we think about the current stock of buildings. The time may be coming when we stop planning for building replacement, and instead plan for building reuse. That in turn would significantly change the roles of designers and builders.

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