Vinyl Wallpaper Asbestos

This friable state can turn to dust and release millions of microscopic asbestos fibers into the room.

Vinyl wallpaper asbestos.

If present it would be in the backing. The wondrous new no wax flooring sold by companies such as congoleum put a glossy sheen on post war american prosperity. If your home was remodeled with wallpaper between 1930 through the late 1980 s you may be at risk for asbestos exposure. If you do have old vinyl wallpaper in your home it could contain asbestos and should be carefully and promptly removed or replaced.

In addition vinyl wallpaper typically contained asbestos an extremely harmful chemical that is known to cause mesothelioma. Removing old wallpaper can be down right dangerous. Today it is possible to use vinyl wallpaper without toxicity concerns. However if the wallpaper is in a high traffic area or touched frequently it s a good idea to remove it as this is likely to cause exposure.

If you are thinking about buying new wallpaper and wondering if it has asbestos in it the answer is no. Asbestos has been used in vinyl wallpaper since the 1920s and vinyl floor tiles and sheet flooring rose to prominence in the 1950s. In those cases it was actually. Asbestos was used in vinyl wallpaper because it was cheap lightweight durable and fire resistant.

For wallpaper asbestos would be found in the finest wallpaper usually found in large 40 room houses not a typical flat. Dried asbestos fibers in vinyl wallpaper can broke down and crumble. But the flooring companies aim wasn t so much to make the floor tiles fireproof as it was to make the tiles more durable. Asbestos is a mineral that lends fireproofing qualities to any substance it is mixed with.

If done incorrectly it can release the asbestos in to your home. For about 35 years flooring companies included asbestos when they manufactured the vinyl tiles. In the late 1970s when it was made widely known how toxic asbestos was vinyl wallpaper was no longer manufactured using asbestos but products containing the deadly mineral continued to be sold through the 1980s. If you are in a home where vinyl wallpaper was hung prior to the late 90s then there is a good chance it has asbestos in it.