Health and Safety
The roofspace in your ceiling can be a collection point for a variety of undesirable contaminents including dust, cockroaches, rat & mice droppings and bacteria. Some of these contaminents may be contributing to allergies. Although this may not affect all members of the household it does generally affect 15% of the population - You may have a partner or family member who is particularly sensitive to dust and allergies; they always have a stuffy nose, sneeze or simply feel terrible when they are in the house (other symptoms include burning eyes, itching skin and aggravated breathing problems).
The main source of dust in a house is generally in the roof void; in fact an average pre 1970 home has between 200 to 700 kg of dust. This usually contains lead and other contaminants.
When CeilingVac remove the dust from homes we are often told from the homeowners that they can often smell the difference in their home afterwards. A good comparison is between the country and city; you can smell the difference.
Ceiling Dust and Lead Poisoning
Very small amounts of lead are known to cause serious long term health effects. Children are at particular risk because:
Their increased hand to mouth activity.
They absorb more lead than adults do.
Their brain and nervous system are still developing
Pregnant woman may be at greater risk than other adults due to changes in their bodies during pregnancy. There is also no barrier to lead in the placenta and therefore no protection for the unborn child in the mother's blood, (but please remember that anyone can be lead poisoned).
The roof void area (attic) of many older Australian homes and buildings can contain dangerous contaminants such as lead, dust mites, asbestos, SMF fibres, old useless and dangerous insulation dirt, bird and rat droppings, pesticide residue and many other dangerous contaminants. This dust is also present in cavity walls and under the floor areas.
What type of roof was previously on your building?
Some houses were previously roofed with asbestos, cement shingles, or asbestos sheets, which may have been replaced with a tile roof or tin roof. In the process large amounts of asbestos dust would settle on the ceiling without the owners being aware. In previous years it was an accepted practice to simply smash and crush asbestos roofs without proper safety precautions being followed. The dust and fibers could float in the air to eventually settle on roofs and the into the roof space thought gaps and cracks in roof tiles and tin roofs. Even if your home did not have a asbestos roof asbestos may still be present from brake-linings of cars, trucks and buses.