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Products that contain asbestos
The table below reveals just how widespread asbestos is. Everyone from Naval shipyard workers, insulating or working on the larger boilers protected by asbestos, to teachers, working in an under construction building, may have been exposed.
While there is no known safe level of asbestos exposure, being exposed to asbestos doesn't automatically mean you'll get asbestos cancer. Additionally, if you have some of these products in your home or at your business, you can't tell if they have asbestos in them simply by looking at them, and they may well not. Many companies provide asbestos testing services; if asbestos is found, contact a reputable asbestos remediation company to safely remove the asbestos. For more information, please see the EPA's web site on asbestos.
Products that may contain asbestos
| Product |
Location |
% Asbestos |
Dates of Use |
| Roofing & Siding |
| Roofing felts |
Flat, built up roofs |
10-15 |
1910-present |
| Roof felt shingles |
Roofs |
1 |
1971-1974 |
| Roofing shingles |
Roofs |
20-32 |
?-present |
| Roofing Tiles |
Roofs |
20-30 |
1930-present |
| Siding shingles |
Siding |
12-14 |
?-present |
| Clapboards |
Siding |
12-15 |
1944-1945 |
| Walls & Ceilings |
| Sprayed coating |
Ceilings, walls, and
steelwork |
1-95 |
1935-1978 |
| Troweled coating |
Ceilings, walls |
1-95 |
1936-1978 |
| Asbestos-cement sheet |
Near heat sources such as fireplaces, boilers |
20-50 |
1930-present |
| Spackle |
Walls, ceilings |
3-5 |
1930-1978 |
| Joint compounds |
Walls, ceilings |
3-5 |
1945-1977 |
| Textured paints |
Walls, ceilings |
4-15 |
?-1978 |
| Millboard, rollboard |
Walls, commercial buildings |
80-85 |
1925-? |
| Vinyl wallpaper |
Walls |
6-8 |
? |
| Insulation board |
Walls |
30 |
? |
| Floors |
| Vinyl-asbestos tile |
Floors |
21 |
1950-1980? |
| Asphalt-asbestos tile |
Floors |
26-33 |
1920-1980? |
| Resilient sheet flooring |
Floors |
30 |
1950-1980? |
| Mastic ashesives |
Sheet flooring and tile backing |
5-25 |
1945-1980? |
| Pipes & Boilers |
| Cement pipe and fittings |
Water and sewer mains |
20-? |
1935-present |
| Block insulation |
Boilers |
6-15 |
1890-1978 |
| Preformed pipe wrap |
Pipes |
50 |
1926-1975 |
| Corrugated asbestos paper |
Pipes, high temp., moderate temp. |
90
35-70 |
1935-1980?
1910-1980? |
| Paper tape |
Furnaces, steam valves, flanges, electrical wiring |
80 |
1901-1980? |
| Putty (mudding) |
Plumbing joints |
20-100 |
1900-1973 |
| Other Products |
| Gaskets/Packing |
Pipe flanges, boiler doors, valves, pumps |
10-80 |
1900-1980s |
| Cloth/Blankets |
Welding accessory, pipe insulation, curtains, clothing |
40-100 |
1900-1985 |
| Clothing (gloves, mittens, sleeves, aprons, coats, jackets, pants, hoods, spats) |
Heat and fire resistant protective clothing |
40-100 |
1900-1985 |
| cement/mortar |
Used as a castable insulation on furnaces, pipes, boilers, brick |
5-100 |
1900-1975 |
| metal-clad firebrick |
Found in Open Health Furnaces and Basic Oxygen Furnaces |
10 |
1950-1980s |
| gunnite/fire-proofing spray |
Sprayed onto furnaces as well as structural steel for fireproofing protection |
20-75 |
1900-1980s |
| hot-tops (ingot mold covers and inserts) |
Used with ingot molds in the steel pouring process |
10-80 |
1960-1980 |
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