fiberglass insulation made in 1930; Museum of insulation???

Not even. Sometimes the roll it out. Sometimes they blow it in. Sometimes they nail it in as ridged foam boards. Sometimes they spray it in and trim off the excess foam. There are lots of systems available.

Marc

I have taken the Asbestos identification class at the McCrone Research Institute in Chicago. I can tell you it is SUPER easy for anyone with the training to tell you PASS/FAIL, whether something is asbestos or not.

I worked at a lab that was trying to become certified for asbestos identification, and I know it gets a lot more difficult when it comes to certification requirements.

For the class, we had to determine the crystal structure and index of refraction and visually examine the fibers to positively identify the type of asbestos. If there was more than one kind present, we had to account for the quantity of each relative to the other.

Due to staffing problems, we never did achieve certification. Although I had gone through the certification program.

I'm sure there are some unscrupulous labs out there that probably get kickbacks from asbestos removal companies, BUT, it is a Felony to falsify lab reports. Not to mention that most asbestos removal companies I know of have more work than they can handle anyway.

You can legally mail samples. For peace of mind, seal it in a double layer of zip-lock bags. It is not hazardous waste until it has been identified as such.

Although I can tell you YES or NO if your material has asbestos in it, my lab is not certified for the analysis. I can recommend one that we trust if you are interested.

It really is as simple as putting a small sample on a microscope slide, adding a drop of the cargile (sp?) fluid, dropping a cover slip on top, and taking a quick peak under the lens. It shouldn't take more than 1 minute (assuming there are fibers visible that can be removed from a clump of sample). And around here $30 per sample might not be out of the question. Our lab charges $35 minimum even if you only want a pH analysis.

Dave

Univ of Iowa is very proficient at these testings because it was just last Friday, 19SEP that I mailed the package in to them and here on 26SEP I receive the test results. They described the insulation as "bulk homogenous brown insul."

I would have described it as more blackish than brownish but then I had only seen it in the shade.

Result of my attic insulation:

% by Area

Subject: Iowa Lab tests returned Re: Sure test of Fiberglass Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 16:21:59 -0500 From: Archimedes Plutonium Reply-To: NOdtgEMAIL Organization: whole entire Universe is just one big atom where dots of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies Newsgroups: sci.materials, sci.chem

Sun, 21 Sep 2003 20:32:35 GMT Henry Boyter wrote:

Univ of Iowa is very proficient at these testings because it was just last Friday, 19SEP that I mailed the package in to them and here on 26SEP I receive the test results. They described the insulation as "bulk homogenous brown insul."

I would have described it as more blackish than brownish but then I had only seen it in the shade.

Result of my attic insulation:

% by Area

I did the test a different way, at a price that was right for me.

I took a pinch of sample (floor tile in my case), held it in pliers, and put it in a blue propane jet for about a minute. At the end of this time, the residue was glowing bright green-blue. When cooled, long, easily-recognized needles of asbestos were left. Further burning did not affect them.

So my floor tile had asbestos in it, and the creeping monster sneaks up on us in our beds and murders our children. And steals their souls.

Bill Penrose

I still like my test between fiberglass and asbestos in that you take a sample wearing a respirator protector and with a hammer on outdoor pavement or anvil pound the sample. If it is fiberglass it will break into tiny slivers. If it is asbestos rockwool it will still remain fiberous.

I have some old floor tile and certain it has asbestos content but am not concerned because I just lay a whole new linoleum over the top.

What I am concerned is the asphalt roof shingles that supposedly has asbestos content and may send some samples to the Iowa lab for confirmation. Because the roof shingles deteriorate with age and releasing the asbestos airborne. So the chances of breathing asbestos is greater from roof shingles than from old floor tile.

I just heard the other day that the number one cancer was lung cancer. Not sure of the validity of the source. If true, I wonder if that would be the case if asbestos had never ever been used.

Archimedes Plutonium, a snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com whole entire Universe is just one big atom where dots of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies

Hate to burst your bubble, but the airborne from the linoleum would be greater than from the shingles due to the matrix and the degree of air dilution. Zippo to worry about unless you disturb them. Loose 5 pounds. Would do you more good than worrying in most cases. By the way, when you covered the old linoleum, you made the new linoleum ACBM since you can't remove the top layer without disturbing the old.

Not the first time I have been wrong. I was basing the above on the frequency probability of asbestos becoming airborne and the likelihood of inhaling into the lungs.

Given a brand new roof of asphalt-asbestos shingles and a new linoleum-asbestos floor tile that the roof shingles would deteriorate much more rapidly than the floor tile. So that if a homeowner ever inhales asbestos fibers from a home which has roofing and flooring, which is the higher probability of source? My guess is that the inhaled asbestos came from the roof shingles.

I do not know whether the floor asbestos is a worse variety from the roofing which you call "matrix". But since much of that flooring is still in existence after 100 years where the roofing is gone after 15 years.

I would agree that inside broken up and dry and dusty flooring is a worse danger than outside deteriorated and dusty roofing for asbestos.

I don't know if vigorously and skidding and scraping of floor tile will make the asbestos free and airborne?

I do know that in roofing there is a cleaning up of leaves and sweeping and a bunch of junk collected in the gutters. But it is outdoors which alleviates the chances.

Archimedes Plutonium whole entire Universe is just one big atom where dots of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies