Discover If Your Ceiling Tiles Have Hazardous Asbestos

Discover if Your Ceiling Tiles Have Hazardous Asbestos

by

Joshua A Harding

Up until the 1970s asbestos was commonly used in the manufacturing of a large number of materials located in homes, workplace buildings, and schools. It was used in the manufacturing of asbestos ceiling tiles, floor tiles, ceiling and wall plaster, insulation, and other items. It is now not utilized much because of government warnings and restrictions of its use, but many older buildings still contain products created from this lethal substance.

Asbestos ceiling tiles were most commonly used in acoustic ceilings, which mean the ceilings were dropped or suspended from the roof. The tiles were suspended from the roof, usually by wire. The aim was to make an area on top of the tiles and under the roof. HVAC ducts and vents were generally positioned in these spaces which could easily cause the asbestos fibers to become airborne throughout the building. One of the advantages of dropped or suspended ceilings was noise reduction which is why they have been included in many workplace buildings and schools. As a result of the usage of asbestos ceiling tiles many individuals have been exposed to asbestos particles, a hazardous mineral that can be breathed into the lungs and result in mesothelioma and other associated conditions. Because it was not generally known that asbestos was so lethal, many ceiling installers didn’t use protective supplies or masks. Also, any office worker or pupil that spent time in a building containing asbestos ceiling tiles could have been exposed. Lots of people that are exposed to asbestos-containing products don’t present signs and symptoms of asbestos-associated diseases such as asbestosis for 20 to 60 years or more. By the time the illness is discovered it’s usually in its later stages, making it incredibly hard to treat. If you are attempting to find out if your home or workplace has asbestos ceiling materials there are some things you must be aware of. Lots of manufacturers made identification easy by clearly marking the asbestos ceiling tiles they produced. A close inspection of the tile will let you recognize if asbestos is one of the manufacturing materials. However, if the tiles aren’t marked you cannot tell if they contain the lethal mineral or not. Frequently it’s possible to recognize if a ceiling tile has asbestos just by looking at it, but that is generally not the case. If tiles aren’t clearly marked you should assume they contain asbestos. If the tiles are created from either fiberglass or cellulose they are more than likely free from asbestos fibers, but it’s not a guarantee. You can’t simply look at ceiling tiles and determine whether they contain toxic asbestos. OSHA has ruled that, by law, specified products are thought to contain asbestos if they were produced earlier than 1981. This makes it simpler to determine asbestos-containing products. These products involve surfacing materials, insulation of thermal systems, resilient floor covering, and others. Surfacing material is commonly applied to ceilings as acoustic or ornamental plaster. It can have the appearance of being fluffy and is commonly referred to as “popcorn” ceiling. Surfacing material is also used for fireproofing and is sprayed above the ceiling tiles on steel beams and decking. Other forms of ceiling or wall plaster such as drywall, sheetrock, gypsum board, or wallboard will not be thought to contain asbestos though the tape and joint compound used in correlation with these materials could contain asbestos. If you are planning on removing any materials like ceiling tiles from your private home these materials must be assumed to contain asbestos. And whether or not they contain this lethal substance they should be removed as if they did. Usually, the most effective approach is to use asbestos removal companies with a minimum of several years of experience and not attempt to take out these unsafe substances yourself.

Josh has been a doctor of chiropractic for more than two decades and enjoys writing content pieces on various subjects concerning health. Pay a Visit to his web site to locate important information concerning

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Discover if Your Ceiling Tiles Have Hazardous Asbestos