I made a HUGE mistake. Black Mastic crisis

6 years ago

I grinned down the floor on my concrete slab, and later found out I was grinding black mastic, most likely. I was wearing a mask, and eye wear but I'm scared of health damages and the dust that was created. What do I do now? Help!

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Comments (4)

SJ McCarthy
6 years ago
Is there any dust left? If so, wet it down enough to stop any fibres from flying in the air and clean it up.

The concerns you would have would be from asbestos. There is a very very very low chance of any health concerns if asbestos was present. To ease your mind, you are welcome to take a small sample and send it to a lab. For $75 - $100 you can find out if you had any exposure.

From now on, you will want to work with dust masks and eye protection should you feel the need for more DIY. Remember: lead based paint was FAR more damaging (when removed) than small amounts of asbestos.
Tina T thanked SJ McCarthy
DavidR
6 years ago
What you do now is not worry.

Even if it does contain asbestos (not a sure thing), one casual exposure like this won't do you any significant harm. The people who suffered asbestos-related illness were those who worked with it 40 or more hours a week for all their working years, especially those in the factories making asbestos products. I've never heard of a single case in which a homeowner was harmed by asbestos in his or her own home.

That doesn't mean you should take chances. As SJ says, treat asbestos containing materials with respect in the future. But for right now you can rest easy, you'll be fine.

If you have any more cutback (the black stuff) to remove from your slab, one approved product to use is called Bean-e-doo (now apparently renamed 500MR Mastic Remover). I've used it. It's messy, but it works. Buy about twice as much as you think you need. Leave it on the floor for as long as you possibly can; a week wouldn't be too long. From what I can tell, it's basically just industrial grade soybean oil, which you may be able to get from an industrial supply house for a lower cost than the approved, branded stuff.
Tina T thanked DavidR
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Tina T
Original Author
6 years ago
I read online to spray the air to capture the dust and falls to the floor.. I bought mops and rags but I can't find P100 filters for my respirator. I was thinking about renting a air scrubber to capture particles. I plan on testing as well.

Any other suggestions for cleaning techniques, products, or advice is greatly appreciated. I've been really stressed about this...
DavidR
6 years ago
Really, you'll be fine. You're far more likely to suffer harm from the stress of worrying about asbestos than from asbestos itself.