Linoleum Floor Glue Asbestos

Even if the linoleum itself is free of asbestos the san francisco gate warns that adhesives from the same time period also contain asbestos.

Linoleum floor glue asbestos.

Mastic is a type of glue used to adhere tiles and vinyl flooring to the subfloor. It can cause lung cancer mesothelioma cancer of the larynx and ovaries and a health condition called asbestosis caused by fibrosis of the lungs. Common in homes built in the 20th century black mastic was used as an adhesive for ceramic tile linoleum and other flooring materials. When you remove that floor covering to make way for new flooring you may encounter the mastic and wonder whether it is safe to remove.

Asbestos is a hazardous material that is present in some older linoleum flooring materials. By their nature adhesives are difficult to remove once they have set which means renovation or demolition work on floor tiles wall panels or anything else glued in. As with any asbestos containing material acm the first step to finding asbestos in linoleum sheet flooring and vinyl tiles is. Removal of the flooring that uses this adhesive may also expose the occupants of the area to the cancer causing fibers.

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. Asbestos was used to make the lino more durable. Asbestos containing seals may wear down flake or peel away. The most common use of asbestos was in the lining for vinyl sheets and floor tiles also known as lino or linoleum.

Vinyl asbestos flooring comes in two types tiles and sheeting. Tiles are safer to remove than the sheeting because the asbestos is held together by the vinyl which is not hazardous. Asbestos is also sometimes found in carpet underlay which was often made from hessian bags that had been used to transport asbestos. Possible signs of asbestos mastic include discoloration and an oily texture.

If you were a company doing this repair in. Take a quarter size piece of the linoleum with the backing in a ziplock bag and scrape up some of the glue in a separate ziplock bag for the lab to test. Click here to read more.