Asbestos Locations in the Home and Office
The following home and building products often did - and may still - contain asbestos.
- Hair dryers and ironing board pads.
- Toasters, washers and dryers, ovens and fireplaces.
- Chalkboards and talcum powders.
- Auto brake pads and linings and clutch assembly parts. Even opening a box containing asbestos brake pads can release millions of fibres.
- Patching and joint compunds for walls and ceilings.
- Textured paints and ceiling finishes notably artex. Sanding, scraping, or drilling these surfaces can release asbestos.
- Door gaskets in furnaces, wood stoves and coal stoves. Torn seals can release asbestos fibres during use.
- Pipe and duct insulation and taping on return seams and inside heat registers.
- Artificial ashes and embers in gas-fired fireplaces are often vermiculite, which is nearly always contaminated with asbestos. Even new fireplaces often contain vermiculite.
- Floor tiles - vinyl asbestos, asphalt, ceramic, cement, and rubber.
- Window putty, sprayed-on fireproofing insulation.
- The backing on vinyl sheet flooring and adhesives used for installing floor tiles. Sanding tiles can release fibres. So can scraping or sanding the backing of sheet flooring during removal.
- Cement sheet and millboard used as insulation around furnaces and wood burning stoves. Repairing or removing appliances may release asbestos fibres. So can cutting, tearing, sanding, drilling, or sawing insulation.
- Soundproofing or decorative material sprayed on walls and ceilings. Loose, crumbly, or water-damaged material can release fibres. So will sanding, drilling, or scraping the material.
- Asbestos cement roofing, roofing felt, transite shingles, corrugated sheeting, and siding. These products can release asbestos fibres when sawed, drilled, or cut.
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