Abstract
The study focused on old, German building types "LIPSK" and "BERLIN" used in Poland, since the 1960s in Eastern Europe. The different operations on buildings were analysed: protection and maintenance of asbestos products, asbestos removal and inadvertent damage to asbestos as a result of building renovation. Measurements of respirable (countable) asbestos fibres in the air were carried out using the PCOM + PLM method and SEM-EDS. In the case of the accidental destruction of products, initial contamination was ≈7000 f/m(3). After 16 weeks from the end of the activity and 20 days of extreme ventilation, contamination decreased to about 500 f/m(3). At the same time, in similar rooms, without extreme ventilation, the pollution was above 4000 f/m(3). The average increase in pollution in a dozen or so similar buildings, after asbestos removal in places beyond the work zones, ranged from ≈ 1700-2700 f/m(3) and lasted for one or two years. These buildings, used without ACM destruction or after product impregnation, have maintained low asbestos contamination < 300 f/m(3) for more than 10-20 years. So, due to the easy release of asbestos that occurs with any ACM removal and the increased risk of occupant exposure, these works are often inappropriate for the buildings in question.