Where is asbestos used?
Because asbestos is strong and resistant to heat, it has been used in many different types of products. In the construction industry, asbestos is used in more than 3,000 building products.
Some materials are presumed to contain asbestos if installed before 1981. For example, vinyl asbestos floor tiles may be as much as 15% to 20% asbestos, which is released when old flooring is removed.
Examples of products that may contain asbestos-containing materials (ACM) or presumed asbestos-containing materials (PACM) include:
-
Asbestos-cement Pipe and Sheet Material
-
Fireproofing/Acoustical Texture Products
-
Friction Materials
-
Gaskets and Packings
-
Insulation
-
Laboratory hoods and tabletops
-
Spackling, Patching & Taping Compounds
-
Textile and Cloth Products
-
Tiles, Wallboard, Siding, and Roofing
-
Vermiculite
Asbestos uses was classed by Lindell (1973) into thirteen classes including
-
insulation or filler;
-
blocks and pipe sections;
-
gaskets and packing;
-
cement sheets and paper;
-
textiles;
-
blankets or felts;
-
friction materials (e.g., brakes);
-
consumer products like Bakelite, used for knobs on furnaces and other hot objects, radios, TVs, and other electrical applications;
Asbestos is not a serious health problem unless the fibers are disturbed and released into the air. The fibers are so small that workers cannot see it with the naked eye. The fact you can inhale these fibers without knowing it makes asbestos an even more dangerous hazard. Significant exposure to asbestos can cause breathing problems, lung cancer, and cancer of the lung lining many years after exposure. Therefore, only specially trained asbestos workers may remove asbestos.
