# Forum Home Renovation Asbestos  Asbestos in a house built in 1996?

## Benttwig19

Hello all, we have lived in a house built in 96 for the last 12 years and have removed some popcorn ceiling in two bathrooms and the kitchen so far.  We are about to remove more so I decided to use one of those mail in services to test a small amount of material.  To my surprise it came back showing <1% chrysotile asbestos.   
I have reached out to an inspector to inquire about the more detailed test that could show this to be a non-issue.  I am in Upstate NY and would really appreciate any insight into this.  Ive read that some of these mail in tests can come back as false positives as well.   
Thank you! 
Ryan

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## Bloss

An Australia site so not terribly useful. In Australia that would not have been legal in 1996. I assume that when removing you have been wearing safety mask (P2 minimum) gloves & goggles. Ideally disposable overalls too. Asbestos is dangerous when atomised & ingested ie: turned into dust by mechanical means in this case of a bound material - so drilling, sanding, scraping etc. If you are scoping then a spray bottle or even a garden sprayer with water to makes sure that dust is key to minimum exposure. Also packing up for careful disposal too - local rules might apply to that too so check. 
The illnesses caused by asbestos are nasty, but the odds of contracting are low too ie: even with high exposures the numbers who get ill are small relative to the number of those exposed, and if a smoker its about 40 times more likely to get ill from exposure. Good practice for renovations or any possible exposure to any dust also lowers risk from asbestos exposure - so anyone contemplating doing any work where dust might be raised or disturbed should take those basic safety precautions. If you haven't done so so far then there is nothing you can do, but don't fret as the risk is extremely low, but DO uses safety gear for all further renovation work - and do things like tape up vents etc so any dust does not get spread.

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