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Asbestos Material Test Labs Where to find a certified asbestos testing lab to whom you can send a sample
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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 lists: this article directs you to lists of certified asbestos testing laboratories. Use only a certified asbestos test laboratory if you need to identify asbestos-containing materials (or probable-asbestos) in flooring and floor tiles, insulation, roofing, paints, mastics, or other asbestos-suspect products.
Green links show where you are. © Copyright 2013 InspectAPedia.com, All Rights Reserved. Author Daniel Friedman.
Asbestos Test Lab Lists Show Where to find an Certified Asbestos Testing Laboratory: NIST, NVLAP, & State Agencies
Below you will find a list of sources for certified asbestos testing laboratories. Why don't we just list individual asbestos lab contact information? Because labs may come and go, or gain or lose or change certifications. The asbestos test lab list sources we give in this reference are maintained by agencies charged with keeping the list and test lab certifications current.
Question: where do I send a sample of my popcorn-painted ceiling to be tested for asbestos? J.P. New York City
Reply: use a certified asbestos testing laboratory listed by your home state
Most state and provincial governments regulate and certify asbestos testing laboratories, and we recommend that where there are health, legal, or cost concerns, you should only use a certified and competent asbestos testing laboratory to examine material samples for asbestos content.
Advice on Finding a Certified or Accredited Asbestos Testing Laboratory
- The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) maintains a listing of accredited asbestos laboratories under the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP). Call NIST at (301) 975-4016. [1]
- An NVLAP directory of accredited asbestos test labs using the PLM (Polarized Light Microscopy) test method for asbestos fiber analysis is found at this NIST site: http://ts.nist.gov/Standards/scopes/plmtm.htm
- An NVLAP directory of accredited asbestos test laboratories that use TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy) for asbestos identification is found at this second NIST website: http://ts.nist.gov/Standards/scopes/temtm.htm
Examples of asbestos test lab listings in individual states:
- "Asbestos Fact Sheet: An Information Sheet for Parties Dealing with Asbestos." Florida Department of Environmental Protection. 7 November 2007
.
- "Asbestos Regulation Frequently Asked Questions." Florida Department of Environmental Protection. 7 November 2007
.
- "Candidate Information Booklet for the Asbestos Consultant and Asbestos Contractor Licensure Examination." Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation Bureau of Education and Testing. 7 November 2007
.
- 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
- Or contact the New York State Department of Health Corning Tower Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12237 - Public Health Duty Officer Helpline 1-866-881-2809.
- "Asbestos Regulation Frequently Asked Questions." Florida Department of Environmental Protection. 7 November 2007 .
- "Candidate Information Booklet for the Asbestos Consultant and Asbestos Contractor Licensure Examination." Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation Bureau of Education and Testing. 7 November 2007
Example of a Certified Asbestos Material Testing Laboratory Report
As the New York State Department of Health has pointed out about ELAP Labs Certified for Asbestos:
A laboratory performing analysis for Asbestos and Fibers by optical microscopy identifies bulk asbestos using polarized light microscopy (PLM) and fibers in air using phase contrast microscopy (PCM). [1]
And even though McCrone Research and other expert sources provide reliable procedures for reliable identification of asbestos in floor tiles by polarized-light microscopy, according to that same New York agency:
Asbestos in air and asbestos in floor tiles can only be definitively identified by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analyses.) [1]
A possible explanation for that contradiction is that in addition to asbestos fibers there may be ultrafine non-fibrous asbestos filler material in various products that are more difficult to identify by PLM.
An example of a simple asbestos test report from a certified asbestos testing lab is shown in this asbestos test result.
However as we point out at ASBESTOS IDENTIFICATION IN buildings it is often quite easy to recognize asbestos-containing materials in buildings by visual inspection. There are some "asbestos lookalike" materials that could cause confusion, and there are some materials such as floor tiles whose asbestos content cannot be identified by eye. But other materials such as certain heating pipe insulation, asbestos millboard, certain asbestos fabrics, and others, can readily be identified by eye, and other materials can be identified as likely to contain asbestos based on the product and its age or date of manufacture.
Details about proper and safe removal of asbestos materials are found at ASBESTOS REMOVAL, Amateur, Incomplete and Asbestos Removal, Certification.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about how to find a certified asbestos lab
Question: where can I send a sample of the floor tile I removed without protection?
Hi where can i send a sample of the tile i removed without protection i didnt not know about asbestos was until i was watching a tv show n know it to late all the tile is up n in a bunch of pieces an triping out cus i had my little girl aroud when i was doing this i need help to determine if this tile contain asbestos there r 9x9 n r brown with black adhesive the house was built in 1962. - C.R. 3/13/2013
Reply: Where to Find a Certified or Accredited Asbestos Testing Laboratory for flooring samples: 7 Suggestions
C.R., you can use any test laboratory certified for asbestos testing. Check out the asbestos lab contact information lists we give in the article above.
Both the US EPA and many U.S. states or Canadian provinces maintain lists of currently-approved asbestos testing labs.
Most state and provincial governments regulate and certify asbestos testing laboratories, and we recommend that where there are health, legal, or cost concerns, you should only use a certified and competent asbestos testing laboratory to examine material samples for asbestos content.
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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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