Non Asbestos

Were me and my child exposed to asbestos?

We live in an apartment complex with indoor, non ventilated hallways. We were walking to the bottom floor to the laundry room. we were already in the hallway we noticed the matinince men were taking down ceiling tiles. we had to walk thorugh the whole hallway to get to the laundry room. There was dust and pieces on the floor. The building was built some time between 70 and 80. the ceiling tiles are the rectangle white kind that are commonly used in schools now a days.

By your description the tiles were the typical drop in ceilings which have been in use for many years. They are made of various materials, mostly insulation with a vinyl film for apartment complex use and the more expensive used in office environments being made from cellulose. I have never heard of ceiling tiles made of asbestos. If the maintenance workers were not wearing Has-Mat suits you are safe. If you looked up at their work area and you saw pink or yellow insulation there was no asbestos present for sure as this was the insulator being used. Companies now are very particular about asbestos and the threat of being sued and therefore take precautions. In the 70s I was exposed to several forms of asbestos in both rehab and demo work and for certain more than several minutes at a time and have had no adverse affects to date unless getting old qualifies!.

Thanks for the correction Susan. I was not considering the small 12"X12" tiles used with the spline system. However the only buildings I have seen them used in, in the Atlanta area, were old office buildings and not apartments. That does not mean there were none, I just never encountered them. >>>