Asbestos At Christmas – Decorations
by CCUK Support
As Christmas comes around again and everyone is decorating their homes they may be handling asbestos if they are using decorations from the 19th century an era in which asbestos was in widespread use or even from the early 20th century where it was still prevalent, this may be the case when people are using decorations that have been in the family for many years.
Due to the texture and colour of the asbestos flakes it became the perfect fit to be used as a decorative element on wreathes and Christmas ornaments before it was banned.
Although there’s no sure-fire way to identify decorations that may contain asbestos, be wary of any that have the following features:
• Has a rough, fibrous texture with a snowy appearance
• Looks like it belongs in the 19th or early 20th centuries
• If the package for the decoration is not labelled
• Looks like hardened candy floss
• Anything that you’re unable to date with absolute certainty!
If you find that your decorations do contain asbestos then the rest of your decorations that it is housed with have then been compromised and even if they are not made of asbestos it is pretty much guaranteed that the minuscule asbestos fibres will have settled on the other decorations thus contaminating them.
Like with all other forms of asbestos it’s a high priority to be alert and aware of this possibility when using decorations that are clearly very old.
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