In the past, asbestos was used as sprayed insulation in buildings, largely in North America, Europe, Japan and Australia, to protect steel beams from buckling during a fire. It was also used to insulate boilers, generators and in ships and trains, to protect passengers and cargo in the event of a fire.
Work with friable asbestos applications often
resulted in exposures several hundred times
higher than today's permissible exposure limits
The use of sprayed-asbestos insulation has been prohibited in most countries since the early 1970's. These sprayed insulation products are often friable, meaning that over the course of time they may dry and crumble under hand pressure. Further damage caused by physical contact during renovation, maintenance or demolition may result in the release of high levels of asbestos dust into the workplace environment.
The issue of how best to deal with in-place friable asbestos insulation in buildings is reviewed in greater detail in Module 5.