If you are that worried, get the ducts cleaned and the whole house cleaned before moving back in. I think you are over reacting

Getting the duct work cleaned by a competent company will not allow materials in the ducts to escape into the house. Reason is because a huge vacuum is attached to the center point of the ducting, the vacuum started and the registers removed. Then brushes are used through the register openings to wipe anything down into the ducting and out into the vacuum.

The company doing the cleaning will know how to handle the wrapped areas. Those are not dangerous unless torn/damaged/etc. and there are several remediation processes.

There are no definitive studies covering asbestos exposure, time of impact, or even amounts of exposure. Medical experts are pretty sure asbestos is harmful(carcenogenic and causing pulmonary problems), but they cannot predict with any certainty what, if anything, will happen nor can they predict when.

So, Cleaning the duct work is a good idea even without the dust from the dry wall. And washing all the surfaces in the house with cleaning products to get that dust is also a good idea.

"There are no definitive studies covering asbestos exposure, time of
impact, or even amounts of exposure. Medical experts are pretty sure
asbestos is harmful(carcenogenic and causing pulmonary problems), but
they cannot predict with any certainty what, if anything, will happen
nor can they predict when."

WOW! As a retired asbestos worker, I can assure you this is not correct.!

Hmm, Susan Martin (who used to run ikeafans) had to basically demolish her house after asbestos contamination from roof repairs without proper abatement, so I don't think that's correct, either.

All the research I have done has not turned up any definitive tests showing time lines from exposure to problem. There are statistics that show high rates of problems for folks exposed long term to asbestos. And medical evidence showing the links between asbestos and cancer.

There are no tests for short term/momentary exposure(like the OP is experiencing) showing any time line or probability for that kind of exposure to cause a problem.

I was an automotive mechanic who worked on asbestos containing brake and clutch parts(starting in the 70's). I wore no breathing protection when using compressed air to clean the dust off the parts.

I also smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for more than 40 years.

I am 70 years old(Oct.) and have zero lung problems. Have CT scans and XRays twice a year to keep an eye on things. By all I've read, I should have three kinds of lung cancer and be almost dead.

I'm not saying asbestos exposure cannot be proven to cause cancer/lung problems. I am saying there are no time line tests that show a definitive time line for problems. The concern for minimal exposure is overblown. Between over zealous government departments and lawyers who sue for any reason(especially the late night fear mongering, class action vultures) the real dangers and causes are often buried.

I'll get off my high horse now, but this (and the radon mess) area chaps my sensibilities.

Handymac-

Asbestos is carcenogenic: mesothelioma is one cancer that is uniquely known to result only from asbestos exposure. But like any such substance, no one can tell you what effect it will have on you. If you have had exposure, short or long term, there are no medical tests that can tell you anything. The only way you know is if you end up with an asbestos-related health condition or cancer, typically many years hence. Two people could have identical exposures, and one might die at 50 from cancer-related lung cancer, and the other have no symptoms and die of a stroke at 90; part of that might be genetic factors. My father-in-law is 93, and he smoked for 70 years, was a fireman, and was a sheet metal worker who handled asbestos insulation with no respiratory protection at the Navy shipyards during WWII. He has a slight bit of a "shadow" on one lung, but that's it. Other people with that history would have been dead decades ago.

I agree with you that a single, short term exposure is unlikely to cause problems, and one of the reasons I think that is that air sampling tests typically show a background level of asbestos in almost any environment, urban of rural. It's small, but it's present. So we are all breathing in minuscule amounts of asbestos every day, but we die from a variety of factors.

Industrial exposures, and exposures like yours are things to be avoided...but you are living proof that we can make statistical projections, but not individual projections.

However, turning back to the OP's issue, I think she is right to be concerned, but would hate to see her panic over the small exposure I think this situation has posed. There is so much asbestos in our homes (floor tiles, furnace insulation, popcorn ceilings), and much of it is torn out with no awareness of what is happening when remodels take place. If the risk were huge we would be seeing an epidemic of asbestos-related cancer deaths from remodeling. The problem for the lay person is that asbestos is scary stuff and it is hard to put the risk in perspective if you don't have a scientific background. My bottom line advice is to minimize asbestos exposure wherever possible, but not to panic if you have possibly had a modest fiber release. Frankly, I would not be that concerned about 2% asbestos in joint compound because, unless it was sanded down, the release resulting from the tear-out was probably negligible. Running the AC with the doors and windows open for several hours should clear out most residual fibers that might have settled in the duct work out of the house. As for the asbestos that was around the duct work in the attic, it's hard to draw any conclusions because: 1) it's not clear how the OP knows that asbestos was present (was it actually tested?), 2) it's not clear how the removal was accomplished, and 3) even if asbestos was present and there are fibers in the attic, how is the attic used and what are the chances for exposure?

Kudzu9

Precisely what I am saying. Thanks.

This thread speaks volumes about the quality of advice to be found on houz.

Current Resident-

Good point and something I should have suggested.