Identifying Asbestos in Your Home

Identifying asbestos in the home has become more important today than ever. Asbestos has long been known as a very versatile material, and so has its usefulness in the construction of commercial and residential properties (primarily as a fire retardant.) However, it has been discovered that asbestos fibers, when inhaled into the lungs, can cause serious health problems, including various forms of lung cancer. Asbestos fibers, although invisible to the naked eye, can get inhaled and lodged in the linings of the lungs. This in turn can lead to a condition known as mesothelioma.
Exposure to asbestos fibers is now a proven serious health risk. For this reason identifying asbestos in your home and property is very important. As a side note though, it is also important to realize that asbestos-containing materials are generally safe when they are in a good, undisturbed condition. The greatest dangers come when asbestos products are cut, sawn, broken, drilled or disposed of. These are the types of situations which can trigger the asbestos fibers to become airborne, and this is when they become health hazards.
What products in the home are likely to contain asbestos?
Asbestos was widely used in homes built before the late 70's, so if your home has been built or remodeled between the 1920's until the mid 80's, there is a good chance that some materials in your home will contain asbestos in one form or another. Here are some products you might have to check for asbestos content: roofing and siding shingles, vinyl floor tiles or vinyl sheet flooring, artificial ashes for gas-fired fireplaces, ceiling tiles, insulation for furnaces, door gaskets, asbestos paper or cement sheets around wood-burning stoves, asbestos tape or coatings around hot water pipes or steam tubing, window glazes and exterior caulking.
Identifying asbestos can be a tricky task
It is difficult to conclusively identify products containing asbestos, mainly because it can't be identified by sight alone. The fibers can be a hundred times thinner than a strand of human hair! The only sure way to discover if you have asbestos is to have a sample product tested by professionals.
Identifying asbestos in the home is best done by a professional. Doing it yourself can potentially cause even more danger to you and your family. If an asbestos-containing material in your home is discovered but not found to be deteriorating in any way, leaving it alone undisturbed may be the better option. However, if you are thinking about renovation or you are worried about its potentially deteriorating condition, you should only hire a certified asbestos removal professional to replace or remove it for you.
As tempting as it may be to handle the asbestos disposal yourself, realize that this is the very time you and your family are at greatest risk from airborne asbestos fibers.