What Makes Asbestos Flooring Dangerous?
Asbestos is a toxic mineral American manufacturers once mixed into many building materials. When these old materials are disturbed, they release dust that can make people sick later in life.
Asbestos is fibrous, meaning it can be pulled apart into a soft, woolly consistency. Mixing asbestos fibers into building materials makes them stronger and more heat resistant.
This is why asbestos was a popular additive in vinyl flooring products for much of the 20th century. Unfortunately, inhaling asbestos dust can lead to several serious diseases.
When you breathe in microscopic asbestos fibers, they can get stuck in your body forever. The human body cannot dissolve asbestos. Instead, the asbestos fibers may eventually cause the buildup of scar tissue or genetic changes that lead to cancer.
The asbestos industry covered up the dangers of asbestos for decades. By the 1970s, however, the medical evidence had piled up.
Thousands of tradesmen who spent their careers working with asbestos materials have died of related diseases. Even though the use of asbestos is now limited in the U.S., thousands still die every year because of past uses of this toxic mineral.
It is safest to assume that any flooring material put down before 1980 contains asbestos. Without a manufacturer’s label, you can’t tell whether a product has asbestos in it just by looking at it.
You can find out for sure by having an asbestos-abatement professional inspect the material. You can also mail a sample of the flooring to a lab for testing.
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