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❚ Asbestos Investigation Agency
■ Harmfulness of asbestos
In the past, asbestos was widely used as interior and exterior building materials and industrial raw materials due to its excellent heat dissipation, heat resistance, insulation, abrasion resistance, and chemical resistance.
It was used in various manufacturing fields, including the construction and shipbuilding industries, and was especially used in the manufacture of slate, the wave-shaped roof commonly seen in residential areas. Asbestos is a very fine fiber, so if it scatters in the air, it will most likely not fall off.
Diseases continue to occur in people exposed to asbestos, and it was designated as a group 1 carcinogen.Iceland became the first country to ban the use of asbestos. In 2009, Korea also banned the manufacture and use of asbestos except for some products for which there are no substitutes. Afterwards, the use of asbestos was completely banned in 2015.
When asbestos enters the human body, it can cause diseases after an incubation period of as little as 10 years and as long as 40 years.
Asbestos is a very harmful substance that can even cause death, so care must be taken when managing or handling it. Therefore, when demolishing asbestos-containing materials, they must be safely removed through professional procedures rather than the general demolition process carried out by normal companies.
■ Preliminary investigation
An asbestos investigator investigates whether the building or facility contains asbestos, the type and content of asbestos contained, and the location, area, or amount of asbestos-containing products.
■ Measurement of asbestos concentration in the air
After all cleaning in the asbestos dismantlement and removal work place is completed, the settled dust is scattered without the closed facility being dismantled, and then measured using a sample collection method. The standard for asbestos concentration in the air is 0.01 particles/cc.
■ Characteristics of major building materials containing asbestos
– slate
It was mainly used in roof improvement projects in rural areas in the 60s and 70s.
* It is corroded by long-term natural weathering, so there is a high risk that it will easily break under even the slightest external pressure and scatter asbestos dust.
* This product is in the form of a corrugated plate or flat plate and is light gray when first produced, but when used for a long period of time, it changes color to dark gray and breaks easily, so care must be taken when dismantling and removing it.
– Ceiling material
* It is a cement mixture product also called Tex. It is mainly used as a ceiling material and its surface is usually white with a bug pattern.
* If used for a long period of time, caution is required when managing or removing as there is a risk of scattering of asbestos dust as it easily crumbles due to external impact.
– Interior wall material (chestnut/wood light)
* It was used as an office and bathroom partition inside a normal building, and since it was heavily coated or painted during construction or used by a manufacturing company, it is difficult to determine on the surface, so a detailed investigation is required after collecting samples.
– Asbestos to spray
* Theater: Used for the back and ceiling of the stage. After the 1980s, rock wool and perlite (porous perlite) had been used, so close inspection is required.
* Parking lot: Mainly used for ceilings. Most of the samples are sprayed with rock wool, so if samples are collected and mixed together by hand, it is assumed to be asbestos and a detailed inspection must be conducted.
* Gym: Mainly used on ceilings and walls, carried out in the same way as the verification method of the parking lot
* Steel frame (deck plate): Used to prevent corrosion of the steel frame. The fibrous fire-resistant coating is collected and inspected visually and by hand, followed by a detailed inspection.
* Engine room (air-conditioning room): The machine is covered in an almost solid state with plaster and non-combustible tape, so samples are collected and detailed inspection is performed.
* Other frozen warehouses, etc.: Styrofoam is normally used, but in the case of old buildings, there are cases of rock wool or asbestos being used, so detailed inspection is required after an initial visual and manual inspection.
-Refer to integrated information network of the Ministry of Environment’s asbestos management-
■ What is an asbestos survey?
When a business owner decommissions or removes equipment or a building, the presence or absence of asbestos is investigated through the history or composition analysis of the materials used during construction, and the type, location, and scope of the materials containing asbestos are recorded and the equipment or building is dismantled. It must be preserved until the removal or dismantlement operation is completed.
In general, materials containing more than 1% asbestos are defined as asbestos containing materials (ACM), and are largely divided into friable form and nonfriable form. Based on this, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency divides asbestos-containing materials used in buildings into three major categories.
The first is surfacing material, which is an asbestos-containing material used for soundproofing, decoration, and heat dissipation and is sprayed or applied on walls, ceilings, and steel frames. The second is mainly contained in thermal insulation materials (Themal System Insulation). It refers to materials containing asbestos in pipelines, boilers, ducts, cement, and gaskets. Thirdly, other materials, that is, miscellaneous materials containing asbestos in buildings, refer to products containing asbestos in materials that are not easily broken down.
With these three basic types, an asbestos inspector takes samples from building materials believed to contain asbestos and uses a polarizing microscope to determine the amount and type of asbestos.
■ Subject to asbestos investigation (Article 89 of the Enforcement Decree of the Occupational Safety and Health Act)
- building
* Normal buildings – total floor area of 50㎡ or more
* House and its attached buildings – total floor area of 200㎡ or more
- facility
* Insulation materials, thermal insulation materials, spray materials, fire-resistant coating materials, gaskets, packing, sealing agents, and other similar materials or materials with a total area of 15 m2 or a total volume of 1 m2 or more.
* Pipe insulation: Total length is 80㎡ or more *Applies regardless of the diameter of the pipe (piping)
Measurement inquiries and consultations
If you contact Woolim E&T Co., Ltd.,Investigator in charge will provide friendly advice.
Establishment of asbestos investigation plan
Select the investigation period, confirm the scope of work, and collect information (floor plan, etc.) on building personnel.
Asbestos investigation and risk
Conduct an evaluation
We conduct visual inspection of suspected asbestos-containing substances, collect samples, prepare asbestos maps, and conduct risk assessments.
Conduct asbestos analysis
Sample analysis, sample preprocessing, and QA/QC analysis are performed using a polarizing microscope (PLM).
Providing results and conducting consulting
We provide asbestos survey results and asbestos maps, and provide consulting based on the asbestos survey results.
We will compile the analysis results (after payment of the analysis fee) and send you a test report directly or via mail.
TEL. 063-453-4112 / FAX. 063-453-4115 / E-mail.ulrimeti33@naver.com
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