It is exceedingly difficult for general consumers to figure out how to deal with hazards like asbestos and lead in home building materials. I am currently renovating our home and it turned out our floor tile had lead in it (not asbestos too thankfully). There are very few resources available and there are no clear rules on how to deal with the removal of hazardous materials. HUD, EPA, CDC, and state rules are all different.
The best option as a homeowner, legally at least, is to not test anything if you can and do whatever you want! My conspiracy theory is that the real estate industry does not want people to know more about hazardous materials because they just want people to buy more houses.
False on all accounts. Handling asbestos and lead is a well defined scope of work in the construction industry, large projects or small. The fact that you weren't carrying a budget for hot materials doesn't mean its a big conspiracy. There are very clear rules. Its a pain in the rear, but its also a budget line item just like mechanical, electrical, carpentry. Asbestos and Lead is a large piece of Environmental Engineering. Granted, you don't know what you have until you uncover it, but if your structure was built before a certain date, go ahead and assume you will be removing or encapsulating some hot materials.
Maybe for the construction industry, but that is not my experience at least for residential. I had to call at least 30 different contractors across the state, and I recieved 30 different replies on the proper way to remove it. I have not had much luck finding a safe replacement! At least with electronics design I can check 'RoHs compliant' and see documentation from manufacturers. Not the case with ceramic tiles. There is no information available out there other than yes, lead can be in ceramic and yes, lead is bad in any quantity. Who even knows if lead dust is even produced when tiles are destroyed during removal? Maybe I am making a big deal about nothing but nobody can say for sure.
And I have not had much luck with any testing procedure. XRF scanners seem to work with paint but there is little I could find about its utility with other materials like ceramic. Lab tests have fairly high thresholds of detection. While you are correct in that there are some clear rules and regulations with removing paint I have not been able to get any straight information on lead in other materials. It has been frustrating!
A home builder or remodeler will have varying attitudes, ranging from full compliance with best practices / law via hiring a certified abatement subcontractor vs "just leave us the keys and someone will get it out overnight." You should call a good local environmental engineer, who will give you direction you need. Will cost a few grand.
Alternatively, if its a bathroom's worth of 'hot' ceramic tile (having asbestos or lead), best, legal bet is to just call an abatement company and have them rip it out on the assumption that its hot. You will spend more on testing and research than just following protocol and sending it off to the appropriate landfill. Or if you are tightly budget constrained, just leave the tile in place and place new tile on top. Thats the easiest of all. Hope thats helpful.
The best option as a homeowner, legally at least, is to not test anything if you can and do whatever you want! My conspiracy theory is that the real estate industry does not want people to know more about hazardous materials because they just want people to buy more houses.