Bathroom renovation: where are the hidden pollutants?

Depending on your needs, renovating a bathroom can be time-consuming. If the bathroom was built or renovated before 1990, it is strongly recommended that it be checked for harmful substances, especially asbestos, before the renovation.

While we are all familiar with the health risks posed by outdoor pollution, we are much less aware of the dangers that can lurk inside our homes, due to the concentration of various pollutants in our homes. Indeed, international studies have identified a concentration of harmful substances in enclosed rooms that exceeds even that found outdoors. The use of dangerous materials such as asbestos in construction, as well as harmful paints and various household detergents, have introduced new sources of risk.

A report by the WHO, the World Health Organization, revealed that around 40% of the materials used in construction can have harmful effects on the health of residents, particularly the weakest (children and the elderly).

The situation can be exacerbated by the presence in the home of furniture that releases noxious fumes, poorly controlled air-conditioning systems and radon infiltration (an odourless, colourless gas that emanates from underground and can accumulate in unventilated rooms, causing serious lung damage).

In this article, we’ll be looking in particular at the use of asbestos in bathrooms, and the renovation processes involved in building a bathroom that’s healthy and safe for its users.

What to consider before starting the renovation of your bathroom

The bathroom should be a welcoming and clean room. These are the two guidelines to bear in mind when considering bathroom renovation.

Renovating a bathroom can be a radical or a light intervention, depending on what’s needed. If the bathroom is old but functional, the work generally takes between 2 and 5 days. On the other hand, if it takes longer – up to 7 days – the renovation may also involve repairing leaks in the bathroom, installing new plumbing and even removing asbestos.

Most of the time, the presence of asbestos can discourage you from embarking on a complete renovation of your bathroom, as its removal lengthens the time needed to complete the work and increases the final cost. But it’s an essential step to avoid future health risks related to asbestos and therefore also increases the value of your property.

But what does asbestos look like, and why should you avoid it? A quick reminder that asbestos is a group of minerals contained in various building materials which, especially up until the 1980s, was known for its advantageous properties such as elasticity and resistance to heat and chemicals. However, this substance was soon recognized as being dangerous and damaging to workers’ health, particularly to the respiratory tract. If you want to renovate your bathroom, it’s essential to check for the presence of asbestos and carry out an asbestos detection test.

Recognising materials containing asbestos

Unfortunately, asbestos is not a material that you can recognize immediately, and you can’t tell whether it’s there just by looking. That’s why asbestos testing is often necessary.

It is important to recognise the presence of asbestos, so that contaminated materials can be removed in a safe way and the uncontrolled release of asbestos fibers in the air can be avoided. By this, the health of involved workers as well as your health and those around you is not put at risk,.

Caution: buildings dating from before 1990 that have undergone renovation work after 1990 may have asbestos-containing materials under the new surfaces. Hence it is important to check for deeper layers when taking samples for laboratory testing. If you are in doubt, it is always safer to involve an experienced professional or even an expert in hazardous building materials (diagnostician).

The following building applications in a bathroom often contain asbestos if they date from 1990 or before:

• Tile adhesives of wall and/or floor tiles, sometimes also from base plates
• Plaster/putty on the wall and/or the ceiling
• Various types of plastic covering materials on floor and/or wall
• Bituminous adhesives of certain flooring materials
• Waste water pipes (fiber cement)
• Pipe insulation

For asbestos detection and testing, we offer various online services to find out whether your bathroom contains asbestos:

1. You send us one or more photographs of a suspect material. An asbestos diagnostic expert in Switzerland will evaluate the photo to assess whether asbestos is likely to be present.
2. Asbestos analysis of material samples: you take a sample and send it to our laboratory to test for the presence of asbestos.
3. We can connect you with one of the diagnosticians in the SOS Asbestos network. An expert will visit your home to carry out an in-depth assessment of the areas at risk.

Safety measures during renovation

Asbestos fibres can be released during bathroom renovation work. For this reason, the work should only be carried out after the right protective measures have been taken.

Protective measures always include :

• Wearing an FFP3 mask and a category 3, type 5/6 protective suit, to be disposed of after use.
• Use of an industrial hoover fitted with an H filter (class H in accordance with standard EN 60335-2-69 with a special requirement for asbestos). The use of an ordinary domestic hoover is not recommended.

Asbestos detection : Call in the experts

Handling asbestos-containing products can be difficult and dangerous without adequate precautions, as the dispersion of their dust can cause damage to human health.

That’s why, even if the surfaces to be worked on are not very large, it’s essential to adopt the right precautions, or to call in an expert.

Experts will first carry out an assessment of your bathroom, identifying any materials which may contain asbestos. If the subsequent laboratory test reveals the presence of asbestos and depending on the nature of this material, the engagement of an asbestos removal company might be needed.

In this way, the specialists will remove the asbestos and clean up the surrounding area. After that, the regular renovation of your bathroom with all necessary professionals can be realized.

Please note that asbestos removal work should only be carried out by a recognized specialist company.

To sum up

• An inspection to assess the presence of suspicious materials;
• Sampling and testing of materials;
• Cleaning and securing the premises;
• Disposing waste materials according the state of the art.

Building a healthy bathroom

Living in a healthy environment is essential for the well-being of yourself and your family. However, we don’t often realize the extent to which the quality of our homes can jeopardize our health. For example, building and renovating a bathroom can be the solution to improving air quality, reducing exposure to harmful substances and creating a safer, healthier environment for everyone in the home.

Renovating a bathroom offers the opportunity to eliminate or reduce the presence of harmful substances in your home. Removing hazardous substances reduces related health risks in the future and increases the value of your property.