We were lied to. We have been without hot water due to a gas leak detected when the city was updating gas lines. We were told we could not hook up our gas until the leak was resolved. Bauer plumbing sent a plumber out to look at it. He told us our boiler was very old ( it is. 1904 ) and that he wasn't sure he would even be able to find parts for it anymore, but that he would try. We didn't hear from him for weeks. We finally got a text from Bauer this morning ( not even the courtesy of a personal call ) Text read "sorry, we cannot accommodate your request due to the technician getting sick from the asbestos and work conditions in your home. you will have to contact another plumber"
This caused concern for me, as we have been living in the home for 12 years now, with no ill side effects, and have had other plumbers in the house ( including ones from Bauer, which is why we went with them this time ), again not reporting side effects. So, I went to the computer and looked up if a short, 20 minute exposure to asbestos, would or could cause short term illnesses. This is what I found.
No, you cannot get sick for a week from a 20-minute exposure to asbestos. Asbestos does not cause acute, short-term illnesses like a cold, flu, or stomach bug. If you are currently feeling sick, your symptoms are almost certainly caused by something else entirely, such as a viral infection, bacterial infection, or acute irritation from general dust and debris. Asbestos-related illnesses operate on a very specific timeline and mechanism:Long Latency Periods: When asbestos fibers are inhaled, they can lodge deep in the lungs. They do not cause immediate symptoms. Instead, they cause slow, chronic irritation over decades. The Timeline: Asbestos-related diseases--such as asbestosis (lung scarring), lung cancer, or mesothelioma (cancer of the lung lining, typically taking 10-50 years to develop. Low One-Time Risk: While health agencies state that no level of asbestos exposure is entirely safe, a single, brief 20-minute exposure carries an extremely low risk of causing health problems down the road. Most serious illnesses occur in people who worked directly with the material daily for years.
I understand the plumber not wanting to work with us, out of fear of risk of exposure to asbestos. ( we were assured, when we bought the house, that the asbestos on the boiler was completely encased in a non porous material, and posed no risk ) However, if this was the case, why not simply tell us, so we could look for other plumbers right away? Why lie to us? As is, we have been without hot water for nearly a month now, and now, are likley looking at a few more weeks, minimum, to find another plumber.
This is HIGHLY unprofessional behavior. I expected better. read more