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COMMON MATERIALS CONTAINING ASBESTOS

Asbestos has properties which made it suitable for use as insulation and as part of binding materials in buildings. Asbestos has been used in such parts of the home as floor tiles, ceiling panels, acoustical celings, exterior stuccos, etc. All in all there have beeen over 3600 products manufactured that contain asbestos. It would be impossible to list all of these products here. The only sure way to find out if the material you are concerned with contains asbestos is to have the material tested. Refer to the following diagram and the table below for the most common products that may contain asbestos.

 

Note: The original of this graphic is by UC Berkeley Extension, Pacific Information Center

 

Building Materials Which May Contain Asbestos
(Source: US Environmental Protection Agency)

Product
% of Asbestos
Dates of Use
Binder

Friable/
NonFriable

Walls and Ceilings
Sprayed coating 1 - 95 1935-1978

Portland cement, sodium silicate, organic binders

Friable
Troweled coating 1-95 1936-1978 Portland cement, sodium silicate Friable
Asbestos-cement sheet 20-50 1930-present Portland cement NonFriable
Spackle 3-5 1930-1978 Starch, casein, synthetic resins Friable
Joint compounds 3-5 1945-1977 Asphalt Friable
Textured paints 4-15 ?-1978   Friable
Millboard, rollboard 80-85 1925-? Starch, lime, clay Friable
Vinyl wallpaper 6-8 ?   NonFriable
Insulation board 30 ? Silicates Friable
Floors
Vinyl-asbestos tile 21 1950-1980 Poly(vinyl) chloride NonFriable
Asphalt-asbestos tile 26-33 1920-1980 Asphalt NonFriable
Resilient sheet flooring 30 1950-1980? Dry oils NonFriable
Mastic adhesives 5-25 1945-1980? Asphalt Friable
Roofing and Siding
Roofing felts 10-15 1910-present Asphalt NonFriable
Roof felt shingles 1 1971-1974 Asphalt Friable
Roofing shingles 20-32 ?-present Portland cement NonFriable
Roofing Tiles 20-30 1930-present Portland cement NonFriable
Siding shingles 12-14 ?-present Portland cement NonFriable
Clapboards 12-15 1944-1945 Portland cement NonFriable
Pipes and Boilers
Cement pipe and fittings 20-? 1935-present Portland cement NonFriable
Block insulation 6-15 1890-1978 Magnesium carbonate, calcium silicate Friable
Preformed pipe wrap 50 1926-1975 Magnesium carbonate, calcium silicate Friable
Corrugated asbestos paper

90
35-70

1935-1980
1910-1980
Sodium silicate, starch Friable
Paper tape 80 1901-1980? Polymers, starches, silicates Friable
Putty (muddling) 20-100 1900-1973 Clay Friable

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