Fiberglass inhalation

[dogooder24]

Hi.

I was exposed to fiberglass as well when it fell out of the ceiling. I inhaled it and since then I have been sensitive to smoke and car fumes. I also keep feeling like something is stuck in my throat and have throat pain which increases when i speak as well as trouble breathing.  I feel the restriction in my chest when i walk, like a tightness. It get worse when it rains. I went to a pulmonologist who is now refering me to a cardiologist. I couldnt find any test that would show fiberglass. I have had MRI and CT scans as well as ultrasounds. The ultrasound showed swelling around the throat area.I had been referred for a doplar ultrasound. My throat has been teste and no pathogens found, not bacteria or virus but they didnt test for debris. I have used a lot of natural remedies and well as inhalers and other medications. I there a test that would sample the debris in my throat. .


This discussion is related to I inhaled Fiberglass Insulation -- Please Help!.

[bet62]

We are having our home remodeled and the contractor has left several stacks of fiberglass insulation in our home.   We did not realize it was there initially.  After a delay in construction we began using that area of the house, the kitchen, because we don't have a choice.  The fiberglass piles are still there.  Since we began using the rooms more frequently my husband came now with a bad cold and I got sick with pneumonia.  It took me a month to see any improvement.  I have a compromised immune system so I was put on heavy antibiotics and inhalers plus, cough medicine and the use of a humidifier.  I finally was feeling better after a month and now my daughter who has asthma is extremely sick, my husband is sick again and now I am sick again.  We are finding blood in the mucous that we are coughing up and also in the nasal discharge. Nothing seems to be helping. After doing some research, I am fearing that we are being affected by the fiberglass asbestos.  We have never worn protective clothing, masks or any of the such.  Any suggestions on tests that we could have performed to verify the fiberglass?  I'm hoping to rule out the exposure as the cause but as I said earlier I need to protect my family and pets.

[lawdude16]

Hi,

Did the contractor leave fiberglass or asbestos (if it was installation, asbestos is impossible)? How long has it been lying in your house, and was it in an exposed area? Has anyone been disturbing the fiberglass or moving it around Have you notice excessive amounts of dust building up in the home? It seems like fiberglass could cause problems based on your level of exposure, time of exposure, and personal factors (different people can react differently to the same level of exposure). There are tests that you can purchase for $50 or so online that are basically a strip of tape that you use to collect a dust sample, and you mail it in and wait for lab results. I used one from Sylvane (not an endorsement, but at least I can confirm they respond).

If you are feeling symptoms, the safest thing to do would be to move out while you confirm the situation in your house. It is difficult ( I know, still going through it) but if there is such a contaminant in your home, safety must come first, and there is nothing wrong with being too safe. Depending on the extent of the dust, you may need a professional cleaning of the house. Wishing you all the best, and keep us posted.

[skmoe]

Thanks to all for the information posted here. I am, however, wondering about the original poster, "dogooder24." I came across this discussion while looking for some data on burning fiberglass boats.  A neighbor constantly (and illegally) burns stuff he hauls INTO this little town, just to watch it burn. It took him 5 or 6 tries to get that boat reduced to rubish, all of which the smoke, ash, chemicals, and particles floated and blew in the wind to my yard, garden, and buildings. My husband has developed some odd breathing problems that docs cannot seem to find a cause for.  I suspected it is from all the fires that are emitting so much crap into the air! Thanks again for this informative discussion.

[Docktore]

To go even further, for all of you who use cellulose insulations... A lot of dust inhaled from common household products, I believe cotton is one, and cellulose, actually persist in the lungs longer than Fiberglass when they make it to the deep lung tissues (where most serious issues can happen). Much like Fiberglass, they cause mechanical irritation and micro-inflammation. Although, again, they do not cause cancer. So, theoretically, they can cause more long-term issues in terms of scarring and fibrosis than Fiberglass can. Obviously dosage matters, especially when considering structure of the materials. Fiberglass is obviously more dangerous at the same dosages due to its physical structure, but being that cellulose and some constituents of all household dusts could last even longer in the body, you have to remember that we inhale much more of those products than we do Fiberglass.

Thankfully, your nose, throat, cilia, mucus, phlegm, coughing, lung fluids, Microphages, and the body's ability to remove foreign bodies or isolate them, and self-heal ultimately gives you a great line of defence. So stop being paranoid, take the proper steps to prevent unnecessary exposure, work safe, and live a happy life. Stress will kill you too, slowly and surely.

For those who want real scenarios, I have a family member that works building canoes and cuts, grinds, and sands Fiberglass daily. She is also a smoker. Yes, she wears proper protection while working. But she also brings a lot of it home with her in her vehicles, on her clothes, etc. She also lives in her basement which is full of exposed Fiberglass insulation. She has been doing this for 20 years. She has no issues with her lungs. I'm not saying it is good, it is definitely unhealthy but my point is, she's fine thus far and likely will never suffer anything serious from this. I grew up with exposed insulation in my basement in a number of places and played down there regularly and we had fans running etc, and I have absolutely no issues with my lungs. I even had a small asbestos exposure to tremolite (one of the worst asbestos forms) when I was 13. Still no issues. I've even had a recent chest X-ray. Lungs look perfect. I've also had a 4 month really bad exposure to Fiberglass, both at work and the house I lived in. Any symptoms I had quickly subsided. Fiberglass is unhealthy but it's not radioactive. Fiberglass, in today's age, is a fact of life and is not a serious hazard. Those who need to be concerned are those who work with it daily. Now stop reading all the insane amount of paranoia the Internet is spewing at you and do something productive or enjoyable. If you've got a Fiberglass issue, get it fixed but don't lose sleep over it. Trust me, I've been there.

[EricfromDublin]

it is interesting what you are saying and I think many people reading it wish it is true

[docsher999]

Hi and thanks for a comment that is very grounded and somewhat relieving. We are now in our second home with fg inside the supply vent boots and were sad to find that the actual a/c duct boots are again wrapped with exposed fiberglass on the inside of each vent boot. The vent comes that way and fg was not put in after it was installed. Seems crazy to me to put it inside of the duct on purpose, but I get why. We r in Fla and they don't want condensation forming between floors and also for sound protection. Although it would seem more logical to have it wrapped on the outside of the duct and the boot and clean metal on the inside but yet here we are. Despite living in 2 homes with it symptoms are light and more like itchy eyes and itchy skin with mild chest sensations every so often although since moving here our son has gotten quite thin which could be a lot of things but with this in place it did cross my mind . We rent this condo and adore it and want to live here forever and cannot do any major construction changes. We want to buy these new thin nylon vent boot filter covers that are supposed to not restrict airflow to stop the discomfort we feel and prevent the insulation from blowing around while going thinner on the intake vent filter but worry it will freeze up the hvac unit and also cost more per month bc of the restriction. You have relieved me with what you wrote, but I still would like to not have this in our system or our air. Because I cannot seem to find out anywhere else despite asking again and again, do you know if the type of insulation that is preinstalled inside the vent boot is maybe a different form than the stuff that flies around or maybe is treated somehow to stay intact more over time just bc it is placed inside of the vent on purpose and will be in people's home air flow all the time? Can't seem to find anyone who can tell me. Thanks for your rationale calming approach to this and also any info you have or can point me to.

[Docktore]

A quick Google search of how long it takes asbestos to dissolve in lungs will bring up many studies, including Fiberglass. Fiberglass with a diameter of 1micron or smaller will dissolve in the lungs in roughly 51 days. 3 microns and smaller are inhailable into the lung tissue. Therefore Fiberglass will dissolve and be removed from your lungs in a maximum of ~130ish days. Technically sooner thanks to Microphages. Most fibers are coughed out or caught in the throat/cilia and swallowed where they are removed quickly from the body. It is true that in the time the fibers are in the body, they can cause irritation and scarring, but the irritation is generally VERY short term and the scarring is only an issue in long-term repeated exposure or MASSIVE acute exposures. Even large acute exposures generally have full recoveries in 3-9 months. For you're a smoker, you're killing the cilia that protects your lungs and this will make all kinds of exposure much worse. cilia takes time to grow back after smoking, but it does. I'm not sure the time frame but in the majority of cases I would say well under a year.
As for Fiberglass and cancer... If it's special purpose fibers of diameter 3 microns or less AND 10 microns in length or more, it could cause cancer in the long-term. Usually 10-40 years after exposure, but usually only from long-term exposure. Also, less than 1% of all Fiberglass products contain what is designated as "special purpose fibers", none of which is household insulation. Of the TONS of Fiberglass in North America, over 99% is not "special purpose fibers". Certain ceramic-composite Fiberglass falls under being special purpose fibers and are used in extreme heat situations. Fiberglass that is not in the special purpose category does not have any risk of cancer from the fibers themselves, according to over 400 government and independent studies. You can argue there is lobbying, studies that are heavily-biased, or poor testing strategies but they're all quite conclusive in saying that Glass fibers are not carcinogens through inhaling. Implantation studies that do show cancer... Frankly aren't relevant. The original poster likely was suffering from issues brought on my something unrelated or exposure to another material/substance during the event. Or perhaps just has a personal agenda. One can easily google how Fiberglass and asbestos dissolve in lungs or the over 400 studies showing mostly the same results. I do agree that it would be nice to have more studies done unbiased and accurately on only particles that fit the description of being inhalable into deep lung tissues. Another point to make, Fiberglass breaks across the fiber and not length wise so it often breaks down to no longer be considered a fiber, unlike asbestos, and doesn't cause the avioli to close up and trap the fiber, which is why it is rapidly expelled from the system via coughing and mucus/phlegm production. To give some form of comparison, most asbestos fibers last 9-14 years in the lungs before dissolving, where Fiberglass can only last a max of 51 days (both in terms of a 1 micron diameter).

[Aaronthorus]

Ttoma, I was living in a house for 4 months that was completely contaminated with Fiberglass. My work also had me exposed daily for those 4 months. It has been 9 months since I quit there and for the first while I was coughing a fair bit. Some above average phlegm production as well but it seems to have gotten steadily better. I still have a cough and some phlegm, but at this point I'm not sure if Fiberglass has anything to do with it. Could just be a bit of a cold or regular phlegm production from other sources. No seemingly adverse health effect from the exposure remain. A lot of my stuff is still covered in it but I've been slowly going through the bins of stuff and cleaning it. The new place I am in has some exposed Fiberglass in the basement but I'm not really concerned. Fact is, the stuff is everywhere. I routinely visit people's houses and often there is exposed Fiberglass somewhere from work being done or unfinished basements etc. I even have family who build canoes and work with the stuff and when they visit I always find Fiberglass where ever they've been. The new place I work at has some exposed in a few places, including at the exit of some heat ducts from the furnace. Fiberglass is not healthy, but it's not a major hazard by a long stretch. Each case varies, but generally speaking the people who are at risk of serious adverse effects are those who work with it on a daily basis for many years, such as Fiberglass manufacturing, boatyards, and insulation installers. That being said, people tend to get very paranoid about Fiberglass, especially if you read everything people come up with online about it. Myself included, I absolutely hate the stuff and I get paranoid over it. It's not nearly as bad as some people claim, but it certainly isn't healthy. Do what you can to reduce exposure in your home and work place, but don't lose too much sleep over it

[ttoma]

I too had fiber glass inhalation exposure. Similar sysmptoms as yours. How is your health.. any improvments over time..
i do though have daily coughs and phlegm seems to have ground shiny glassy fiber...seems coughing out buy there is shortbess of beeath getting worse since exposure few months ago....