Asbestos Floor Tile Characteristics
It was most often used in insulation materials and ceiling tiles.
Asbestos floor tile characteristics. Asbestos in vinyl products becomes dangerous when microscopic fibers of the mineral are released and become airborne. Identifying asbestos floor tiles. Sbestos was once considered a miracle material used in everything from paint and pipe insulation to even tiling. 9 x9 12 x12 and 18 x18.
Asbestos fibres are strong and durable and they resist the influence of acids and high temperatures. The asbestos floor tile identification articles in this series illustrate that with the combination of design appearance and an idea of floor tile age many asbestos containing floor tiles or sheet flooring products can be reliably identified even before confirmation by a test by a certified asbestos testing laboratory. Asbestos vinyl floor tiles. You can either engage an asbestos remediation expert or obtain a test kit for.
However once considerable testing proved that it was a killer the miracle became a nightmare to deal with and remove. Under a microscope crocidolite asbestos fibers have a blue or gray appearance and can present themselves as either translucent or nearly opaque. Therefore it used to be an extremely popular material for a wide variety of applications. Because of this and because asbestos is a naturally and frequently occurring mineral.
As such it is distinct from other asbestiform minerals in the amphibole group. Age of floor tiles if the building you live in or the one in which you work was constructed before the 1980s and particularly in the period between 1950 and the 1980s there s a high probability that your flooring contains asbestos as the interval matches the times of intense use of the mineral in building materials. Examine the condition of the tiles. While this type of asbestos still has the needle like fibers.
Tiles that are disintegrating should be. Asbestos floor tiles were manufactured in three sizes. The definitive way to find out if tiles contain asbestos is to have them tested. If the material is in good condition it normally does not pose a threat because the asbestos is enclosed in vinyl preventing the fibers from escaping.
Moreover asbestos insulates well and it is cheap.