I was cleaning out the living room of my share house and I moved some old cabinets away from the wall to find this crumbly brown stuff underneath the pealing paint. I poked it with a stick and everything and wasn't wearing a mask. I'm ******** myself that it's asbestos because my room is attached to the living area and it's an unavoidable section of the house. photos here: asbestos?
It's best to assume it is until a test confirms it isn't. It may also be the very nasty low density fibre board which is up to 70% asbestos and not bonded https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.a...handling-low-density-asbestos-fibre-board.pdf
It may be best avoiding the room in the meantime if possible? If it were me, I'd mask up (hepa mask if) get a sample in a double snap lock bag and take to a lab to get tested for $100. I thought Masonite, but this shouldn't be "crumbly" as you describe, unless its backing onto a bathroom which was leaking a long time ago?
How crumbly is crumbly? Falls apart with a stick or gritty crumbly and takes a bit of scratching? It looks to me like someone has rendered and painted over the slab edge and its now got rising damp
The area is water damaged because the whole house was poorly ventilated and there was a massive mould problem. That's the grey discolouring going up the wall
Hepa mask? These are labeled as a 'P2' mask on the packet. You can buy disposable ones from Bunnings for about $10 for three. But you don't have to investigate if you are a tenant. Tell the agent. In Melbourne can get it tested for less than $100, but again this is a cost the landlord should bear if needed. In person, it might obviously be just dirty, crumbling plasterboard! To me it definitlely looks like the brown paper face of plasterboard.
If it crumbles like toast it's more than likely not Asbestos. I can't remember what the stuff is called but I think I know what you're talking about, it's like a compressed wood chip but a much older style of it. Falls to pieces when it gets soaked. Post a picture.
I'd say NOT. But they put it in A LOT of products. You really have to break up/ disturb it to stand a chance of managing to breath in a fibre, then wait for over 20 years for it to show up on an x-ray..... Let alone cause breathing problems. If you are really worried, get an old spray bottle, half fill with water and squirt in a few squirts of aquadere, shake and spray over the area (it will bind the fibres/dust ). Personally, the mould is probably a more pressing issue.
