Fiberglass Ceiling Panels

Fiberglass Awareness

Two men wearing hazmat suits, respirators and gloves inside of an offfice that has plastic covering up all of the office furniture. The first man is picking up one of the many fiberglass ceiling panels.

If they are safe to work under, why does one need a respirator and a hazmat suit to handle them? Many office and other commercial buildings have fiberglass ceiling panels above everyones heads.

Stacks of yellow fiberglass commercial ceiling panels in brown cardboard boxes sitting on top of a gray floor in front of a white wall.

I have gotten pretty good at detecting fiberglass and avoiding it. Because of this my kidney function has returned to normal and overall health has improved. At the office they have been working hard at getting all of the fiberglass out of the building. There was one section where I could feel it, yet no one could find it. The workers had checked behind every wall they could think of in that area. After walking around with the contractors and telling them exactly where I felt it, they found it.

Two piles of yellow fiberglass commercial ceiling panels in brown cardboard boxes sitting on top of a gray floor in front of a white wall.

Boxes of fiberglass ceiling panels were placed under the medal rack on the mezzanine. I had felt the fiberglass and the overall sick feeling while standing on the stairwell. The boxes were a couple of feet to the left with a wall in-between.

Piles of yellow fiberglass commercial ceiling panels in brown cardboard boxes sitting on top of a gray floor behind a white wall that has a hole in the drywall.

Notice the hole in the drywall where they had checked to see if it was behind the wall. It was not behind the wall, but in the sealed cardboard boxes in front of it.

In another case

The ceiling of an office with square white tiles with lighting and duct work vents in it.

At an office building where it was discovered that a handful of employees were having a reaction to fiberglass the company had been working hard at getting it all removed. There was a meeting with eight people in one of the offices. When someone turned on a fan four of the eight people started having symptoms. The room was searched and they found that the old ceiling tiles were fiberglass.

A thick white ceiling panel with tiny glass fibers showing if you look closely at the end.

If you look closely at the end of this ceiling tile you can see the glass fibers. The panels are decades old and are slowly breaking down. The glass is shattering and floating around the air and settling on things in the room. When someone turned on a stand alone fan it stirred up the microscopic dust.

A man's hand holding a square white ceiling tile up on a brown desk inside of an office.

These panels will be removed and replaced with something that does not contain shredded glass.

In another office

The seam of a white ceiling panel showing the edge made of yellow fiberglass.

In another office they found fiberglass ceiling panels breaking down becoming airborne.

A white ceiling panel with a crack between the panels showing how it is made of yellow fiberglass.

The more air flow in the room the more the particles broke down. They could not be seen without a microscope.

A white ceiling panel with the top layer pealed back showing the yellow fiberglass under it.

The body is unable to break down the glass that is inhaled.

A man wearing a hazmat suit and a respirator with his gloved hand on a yellow fiberglass ceiling panel with the desk inside the office covered in plastic. A second suited worker is behind him.

The fiberglass ceiling panels being removed by workers wearing hazmat suits and respirators.

Two men wearing hazmat suits, respirators and gloves inside of an offfice that has plastic covering up all of the office furniture. There are fiberglass ceiling panels around them.

In a 4th Office Building

A man wearing a white hazmat suit, a face mask and gloves inside of an offfice standing on a blue carpet with a stack of fiberglass ceiling panels and a vacuum cleaner next to him.

An office employee's eyes were burning, teeth felt loose and sinuses were swollen. As they walked down the hallway wondering why the air was so poor inside the building they saw this guy, a contractor wearing a hazmat suit (hazardous materials suit), face mask and gloves with a stack of fiberglass ceiling panels next to him. Turned out the office was removing and replacing the fiberglass panels during the work hours. The contractors were all wearing protective gear to handle something the employees had to work under daily.

A man wearing a white hazmat suit, a face mask and gloves inside of an offfice while a second man climbs up into the ceiling from scafelting. There are flex ducts all over the floor and hanging from the ceiling.

This is another office where the occupant was getting sick while at work. The fiberglass ceiling panels were removed and replaced with panels that do not jeopardize the air quality. The fiberglass ducts are also being removed. The company is going fiberglass-free as much as possible for the safety and health of their employees.

Sharon Maguire - Updated 3-23-2017