Vinyl Floor Tile Dealers
Asbestos Tile Source Guide
Asbestos tiles were pretty popular back then in the US from 1920 to the 1960s. Nobody knew anything about the side effects of asbestos. Asbestos were used to manufacture brake pads, filtered cigarettes, electric ovens, battle ships, even asbestos tiles! Imagine that.
Then somebody came along and blew the whistle on asbestos and said, “Asbestos is responsible for serious respiratory illnesses such as mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer. Do you want my filtered cigarette?”
Since then many countries have banned the use of asbestos in many common household and industry items. Asbestos tiles went out of style. Or at least it was supposed to.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, asbestos content in floor and ceiling tiles is safe as long as it doesn’t exceed 1%. But problem is it can range anywhere from 0% to 70%, which is more than enough to poison everyone living under the roof.
The color of the tile is a good indicator of its asbestos content. Dark colored tiles usually have higher concentrations of asbestos, but of course that doesn’t mean all dark colored tiles contain asbestos. Always make it a point to ask the dealer to show you only asbestos-free tiles.
The thing with asbestos tiles is that they are safe as long as the asbestos doesn’t spread into the air. This happens when the tile is cracked or chipped by another hard object.
For this reason, asbestos tiles are much safer to use as ceiling tiles than floor tiles. But even so, avoid using asbestos tiles if you can help it – floor or ceiling.
For more information and tips On Asbestos Tile Source Guide visit, http://asbestos-tile.info
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