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Asbestos Flooring Test Lab Procedures & Photos
Identify Floor Tiles or other Products That Contain Asbestos
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InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.
Asbestos test lab procedures, photographs, sample preparation, microscopy methods & example lab report: this article provides photos and procedural suggestions used in the forensic laboratory to identify asbestos materials (or probable-asbestos) in flooring and floor tiles.
Green links show where you are. © Copyright 2013 InspectAPedia.com, All Rights Reserved. Author Daniel Friedman.
Asbestos Test Procedures: Microscopy to Identify Asphalt-Asbestos or Vinyl-Asbestos Floor Tiles in the Laboratory
 In this article series we provide photographs and descriptive text of asbestos insulation and other asbestos-containing products
to permit identification of definite, probable, or possible asbestos materials in buildings. Readers should also see FLOOR TILE HISTORY & INGREDIENTS for a discussion of the ingredients and production of asbestos-containing flooring. And see ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE IDENTIFICATION for advice on visual identification of vinyl-asbestos floor tiles or flooring products that probably do or don't contain asbestos. For a detailed photo guide to individual vinyl-asbestos floor tile patterns, sizes, and years of manufacture, see ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE IDENTIFICATION
For a strategy for collecting building dust samples, when, where, how many samples to collect, see DUST SAMPLING PROCEDURE.
Asbestos is safe and legal to remain in homes or public buildings as long as the asbestos
materials are in good condition and the asbestos can not be released into the air.
While an expert lab test using polarized light microscopy is necessary to reliably identify the presence and specific type of
asbestos fiber, or to identify the presence of asbestos in air or dust samples, many asbestos-containing building products
not only are obvious and easy to recognize, but since there were not other look-alike products that were not asbestos, a visual identification of this material can be virtually a certainty in many cases.
On occasion, the original flooring packaging or installation literature may be available for a given home: often an extra box of floor tiles was kept for future repairs. The vinyl-asbestos floor tile package label information, combined with a simple comparison of tiles in the package with tiles installed in the building may be sound confirmation of asbestos-containing materials. See Vinyl Asbestos Floor Tile Packaging. Historical information about the dates of flooring installation may also be sufficient to rule in or out the possibility that flooring in a building contains asbestos.
Walter McCrone developed and amply documented the forensic microscopy procedures used to identify asbestos in products, air or dust samples.
Certainly asbestos-certified labs who process large volumes of asbestos samples have developed efficient, high-speed procedures to keep the sample analysis costs down, and surely some of those experts have other tips and ideas for effective processing of floor tile samples besides what we will document here.
However on occasion we need to work with less sample material, or very small asbestos floor tile sample fragments in our laboratory. Here we document and illustrate some suggestions for working with small fragments of vinyl-asbestos floor tiles to obtain material for microscopic examination in the laboratory.
Preparing a Small Floor Tile Fragment for Microscopic Examination for Asbestos
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In the lab, following Walter McCrone's procedure for teasing out asbestos particles from solid materials such as this floor tile, we broke a small corner off for further examination by microscope.
Tiles are broken, not cut, in order to expose asbestos fibers for removal, slide preparation, and microscopic examination using transmitted, reflected, and primarily polarized-light central stop diffusion microscopy.
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This stereo-microscopic view of the edge of this asbestos-floor tile shows the combination of binder and other silicate materials.
Details about Montgomery Ward vinyl asbestos tile flooring are at Montgomery Ward Floor Tiles. |
Below (left) is a microphotograph of materials (probably limestone filler) scraped from the broken edge of the Wards vinyl asbestos floor tile shown above. And below (right) is a 1200x magnification photo taken in our laboratory, showing asbestos fibers teased out of the broken edge of a separate sample of floor tile tentatively identified as 2mm x 9"x9" Armstrong Excelon vinyl asbestos flooring ca 1954-1980).
Because many fibers such as fiberglass and asbestos can be almost impossible to detect microscopically, especially in small fragments, unless they are mounted in a proper medium, Cargille certified refractive index liquids (e.g. n=1.550 or n=1.680) are used to mount asbestos-suspect fibers for microscopic examination.
 Our photo (left) shows a small fragment of red floor tile (tentatively identified as Armstrong Apache Red) prepared for initial handling.
Although McCrone instructs the technician to "tease out" fibers from the edge of a broken floor tile fragment, the "teasing out process" can be tricky if like the author (DF) you have stubby fingers and the sample is about 1cm square.
We use a very small quantity of fast-setting glue to bond our floor tile fragment to a clean microscope slide.
Watch out: don't use too much glue. Especially "super glue" or "Krazy glue", convenient to work with, may dissolve into the sample fragment, or wet its important broken sample edge if you use too big a glue droplet.
To the right of the floor tile fragment you'll see a drop of clean mounting fluid. We're using Cargille™ N=1.680 in this example. We'll use the droplet to secure fibres we remove from the sample.
Watch out: don't make the droplet too big or you'll waste time looking for your sample fibers under the microscope; don't place the droplet too close to the glued sample or you may overload it with granular debris during fiber removal; don't place the droplet too far away from the sample or you may lose a fiber during transfer from the sample to the drop.
At above left we show our probe under the stereo microscope, as we gently pick away material from the exposed edge of the glued floor tile sample fragment in order to expose a cluster of fibers for further examination.
Our photo at above right shows that we check our mounting fluid droplet for obvious extraneous debris before using it. If the droplet becomes debris-loaded, it's easy to clean the slide and start with a new drop since we've glued down our sample.
At below left a fiber cluster has been removed from the sample and carried to the nearby droplet of mounting fluid. We did not try to remove all of the debris from our fiber cluster as we wanted to keep the fiber bundle intact. At below right, we still haven't lost the sample as we further prepare the slide with a cover slip. If we are using the same slide and glued-sample to prepare a sequence of fiber trials at different Cargille liquid values, we note the refractive index on the slide so as to keep our lab data accurate.
Our photos, below show the asbestos fiber cluster from our vinyl asbestos floor tile under magnification and at different lighting conditions.
Our last photo (above right) show mineral fragments from the sample, possibly limestone.
Watch out: very find powdered asbestos was used as a non-fibrous filler in many products.
See ASBESTOS LIST of PRODUCTS and ASBESTOS PHOTO GUIDE to Materials
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about h certified asbestos lab test lab procedures
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Technical Reviewers & References
Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.
- "Asbestos in your home or at work," Forsyth County Environmental Affairs Department, Winston-Salem NC
12/08
- "Asbestos Floor Tile Removal", the University of Minnesota's advice on removing VAT (vinyl asbestos or asphalt asbestos floor tile) can be read in detail at www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/asbestos/floortile/index.html
- [1] "Asbestos in the Home," U.S. EPA, Exposure Evaluation Division, Office of Toxic Substances, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington,D.C. 20460also see EPA’s epa.gov/asbestos/pubs/ashome.html
- Resilient Floor Covering Institute, 1030 15th St. NW, suite 350, Washington D.C.
- Asbestos products and their history and use in various building materials such as asphalt and vinyl flooring includes discussion which draws on Asbestos, Its Industrial Applications, D.V. Rosato, engineering consultant, Newton, MA, Reinhold Publishing, 1959 Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 59-12535 (out of print).
- David Grudzinski, Advantage Home Inspections, is a professional home inspector in Cranston, RI. 02910. He can be reached at 401-935-6547, fax- 401-490-0607 or by email to contact/us@advantagehomeinspections.us 04/26/2009
- EPA Guidance for Controlling Asbestos-Containing Materials in buildings, NIAST, National Institute on Abatement Sciences & Technology, [republishing EPA public documents] 1985 ed., Exposure Evaluation Division, Office of Toxic Substances, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington,D.C. 20460
- EVER WEAR TILE CO is currently (2009) in the Terrazzo, Tile, Marble, and Mosaic Work industry in Fallon, NV. 775) 423-6221. [We do not know the company history nor whether there is an association with EverWear vinyl asbestos floor tiles discussed in this article.]
- New York State Department of Health, Wadsworth Center, "ELAP Labs Certified for Asbestos", web search 04/16/2011, original source: http://www.wadsworth.org/labcert/elap/asbestos.html. Additional contact information for the Wadsworth Center: David Axelrod Institute
Wadsworth Center
NYS Department of Health
P.O. Box 22002
Albany, New York 12201-2002
- New York State Department of Health
Corning Tower
Empire State Plaza,
Albany, NY 12237 - Public Health Duty Officer Helpline 1-866-881-2809
- Thomas Hauswirth, Managing Member of Beacon Fine Home Inspections, LLC and (in 2007) Vice President, Connecticut Association of Home Inspectors
Ph. 860-526-3355 Fax 860-526-2942 beaconinspections@sbcglobal.net 06/07: thanks for photographs of transite asbestos heating ducts
- Gary Randolph, Ounce of Prevention Home Inspection, LLC Buffalo, NY, for attentive reading and editing suggestions. Mr. Randolph can be reached in Buffalo, NY, at (716) 636-3865
or email: gary@ouncehome.com
3/07
- Also see www.asbestosresource.com for other Armstrong™ (available from the U.S. Library of Congress) examples vinyl asbestos floor tiles and accent strips.
- ASBESTOS IDENTIFICATION IN buildings How to find and recognize asbestos in buildings - visual inspection methods, list of common asbestos-containing materials
- Asbestos Identification and Testing References
- Asbestos Identification, Walter C.McCrone, McCrone Research Institute, Chicago, IL.1987 ISBN 0-904962-11-3. Dr. McCrone literally "wrote the book" on asbestos identification procedures which formed
the basis for current work by asbestos identification laboratories.
- Stanton, .F., et al., National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 506: 143-151
- Pott, F., Staub-Reinhalf Luft 38, 486-490 (1978) cited by McCrone
- Asbestos in Your Home U.S. EPA, Exposure Evaluation Division, Office of Toxic Substances, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington,D.C. 20460
- Asbestos NESHAP Adequately Wet Guidance, EPA340/1-90-019, December 1990, U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Stationary Source Compliance Division, Washington, DC 20460,original web source: http://www.epa.gov/region04/air/asbestos/awet.htm
- Asbestos products and their history and use in various building materials such as asphalt and vinyl flooring includes discussion which draws on Asbestos, Its Industrial Applications, D.V. Rosato, engineering consultant, Newton, MA, Reinhold Publishing, 1959 Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 59-12535 (out of print, text and images available at InspectAPedia.com).
- EPA Asbestos Materials Bans: Clarification 1999
- Fiberglass: Indoor Air Quality Investigations: Health Concerns About Airborne Fiberglass: Fiberglass in Indoor Air from HVAC ducts, and Building Insulation
- Enviro-Scare: Electric Power Lines, Electromagnetic Fields, Cancer Risk, & "Enviro-Scare" - The Normal Curve Cycle of Public Fear of Environmental Issues
- Dust from the World Trade Center collapse following the 9/11/01 attack: the lower floors of this building contained spray-on fire-proofing asbestos materials.
- Asbestos Information Links: Asbestos Detection, Testing, Recognition, Hazards, Field Photos, and Information Sources, including
health-related links such as legal services and information about mesothelioma and other cancers.
- "Handling Asbestos-Containing roofing material - an update", Carl Good, NRCA Associate Executive Director, Professional Roofing, February 1992, p. 38-43
- EPA Guidance for Controlling Asbestos-Containing Materials in buildings, NIAST, National Institute on Abatement Sciences & Technology, [republishing EPA public documents] 1985 ed., Exposure Evaluation Division, Office of Toxic Substances, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington,D.C. 20460
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
 The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 25th Ed., 2012, is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume. Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.
Or choose the The Home Reference eBook for PCs, Macs, Kindle, iPad, iPhone, or Android Smart Phones. Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAEHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.
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