I was a little worried about abestos so I always worn my 3M charcoal mask. I don't think it was the best protection but it was much better than nothing. The couter top was very dusty when I cut or drilled it. I put an old carbide blade in my MM slider and crosscut off 12" from one end. I ran the DC but there was still some dust. Hopefully I didn't od on asbestos dust. By the way the carbide blade was red hot before I got thru the cut but the 6.4 hp MiniMax didn't even slow down.