Most products made today do not contain asbestos. Those few products made which still contain asbestos that could be inhaled are required to be labeled as such. However, until the 1970s, many types of building products and insulation materials used in homes contained asbestos. Common products that might have contained asbestos in the past, and conditions which may release fibres, include:
- Steam pipes, boilers, and furnace ducts, insulated with an asbestos blanket or asbestos paper tape. These materials may release asbestos fibres if damaged, repaired, or removed improperly.
- Resilient floor tiles (vinyl asbestos, asphalt, and rubber), the backing on vinyl sheet flooring, and adhesives used for installing floor tile. Sanding tiles can release fibres. So may scraping or sanding the backing of sheet flooring during removal.
- Cement sheet, millboard, and paper used as insulation around furnaces and woodburning stoves. Repairing or removing appliances may release asbestos fibres. So may cutting, tearing, sanding, drilling or sawing insulation.
- Door gaskets in furnaces, wood stoves, and coal stoves. Worn seals can release asbestos fibres during use.
- Soundproofing or decorative material sprayed on walls and ceilings. Loose, crumbly, or water-damaged material may release fibres. So will sanding, drilling, or scraping the material.
- Patching and joint compounds for walls and ceilings, and textured paints. Sanding, scraping, or drilling these surfaces may release asbestos.
- Asbestos cement roofing, shingles, and siding. These products are not likely to release asbestos fibres unless sawed, drilled, or cut.
- Artificial ashes and embers sold for use in gas-fired fireplaces. Also, other older household products such as fireproof gloves, stove-top pads, ironing board covers, and certain hairdryers
- Automobile brake pads and linings, clutch facings, and gaskets.4
"I can be found in old building materials" |
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Asbestos used to be a miracle building material. |
4 http://www.asbestos-institute.ca/home/home_ala.html#3
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