Where is Asbestos Found?

Asbestos is resistant to heat, fire, electricity and chemicals, it has really good sound absorption qualities and a high tensile strength. As a result, many products which could benefit from these properties have had asbestos added to them.

Some asbestos containing materials are more vulnerable to damage and more likely to give off fibres than others. In general, the materials which contain a high percentage of asbestos are more easily damaged.

The list below is roughly in order of ease of asbestos fibre release (with the highest potential fibre release first;

1. Sprayed asbestos and asbestos loose packing - generally used as fire breaks in ceiling voids.
2. Moulded or preformed lagging - generally used in thermal insulation of pipe and boilers.
3. Sprayed asbestos - used as fire protection in ducts, firebreaks, panels, partitions, soffit boards, ceiling panels and around structural steel work.
4. Insulating boards used for fire protection, thermal insulation, partitioning and ducts.
5. Some ceiling tiles.
6. Millboard, paper and paper products used for insulation of electrical equipment. Asbestos paper has also been used as a fire-proof facing  on wood fibreboard.
7. Asbestos cement products, which can be fully or semi-compressed into flat or corrugated sheets. Corrugated sheets are largely used as roofing and  wall cladding. Other asbestos cement products include gutters, rainwater pipes and water tanks.
8. Certain textured coatings ("Artex")
9. Bitumen roofing material and damp proof courses.
10. Vinyl or thermoplastic floor tiles, black toilet seats and cisterns.

Most asbestos fibres are invisible to the eye because their size is about 3.0-20.0 µm in length and can be as thin as 0.01 µm. Human hair ranges in size from 17 to 181 µm in width.

Therefore in many cases, an asbestos containing product cannot easily be distinguished from its non-asbestos counterpart.

The HSE website provides a diagrammatic representation of where asbestos is found on their asbestos campaign website. Click here http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/essentials/building.htm.

© Hurst Solutions 2009 info@hurstsolutions.co.uk 4 Heol Gwendoline, Barry, Vale of Glamorgan CF62 5AN 0845 0569687 02921 252561