Mesothelioma Risk Factors
What kinds of building materials may contain asbestos?
The following list contains some of the more common asbestos-containing products, although it is by no means exhaustive. Over the course of the last century, over 30 million tons of asbestos were used in over 3,000 different products. Everywhere from private homes, to industrial facilities, ships and even schools saw asbestos used in a variety of ways.
| 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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