Asbestos can be found in many building materials, including those in our homes, offices and daycare centers. The sprayed on ceiling in your living room? The floor tile in your kitchen? Both may contain asbestos. Building products that may contain asbestos include resilient floor tiles, the backing on vinyl sheet flooring, and adhesives used to install floor tile; paper tape and blankets used to insulate steam pipes, boilers and furnace ducts; cement sheet, millboard and paper used as insulation around furnaces and wood burning stoves; door gaskets used in furnaces, wood stoves and coal stoves; soundproofing or decorative material sprayed on ceilings and walls; compounds used for patching and joints; textured paints; and cement roofing, shingles and siding.

Many people assume that asbestos products are banned, but they aren’t, even though at least 30 other countries have banned asbestos. The EPA’s ban of most asbestos containing products was thrown out by a court, and was one of the most spectacular failures of our chemical regulation law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (“TSCA”). In 2001, approximately 29 million pounds of asbestos was used to manufacture products in the United States. However, individual product uses of asbestos have been controlled.

Exposure to asbestos fibers causes adverse health risks. Asbestos kills an estimated 10,000 people in the U.S. each year. The three major health effects associated with exposure to asbestos fibers are asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. Children are potentially more at risk of suffering adverse health effects of asbestos exposure.

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral fiber. The term “asbestos” actually refers to a number of naturally occurring, fibrous silicate materials, including chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite, tremolite, actinolite and anthophyllite. These fibers provide a number of desirable properties, including heat insulation, fire resistance and strength.

Asbestos poses a health problem because of its physical characteristics, as opposed to its chemical properties. Asbestos fibers are long, microscopically thin fibers – so thin you can’t see them – and light, so they remain suspended in the air and float from room to room once released.

The risk of exposure for most of us comes from building products, insulation materials and consumer products that may have been used or found in our homes.

Asbestos building products and insulation materials were widely used up until the late 1970s. The most common and significant uses of asbestos in the home was banned in the 1970s, so homes built before 1978 are the ones most at risk.

Don’t panic though - a risk only exists if the asbestos is friable (can be crumbled with hand pressure), or if you are cutting into or removing such materials. Asbestos just being present in your home isn’t a problem – only it is friable or if it is disturbed. Asbestos is generally combined with other materials. As long as the materials remain bonded, the asbestos fibers are not released. If you have asbestos containing building materials in your home, and they are in good condition, just leave them be.

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