Asbestos Testing Labs & Sample Collection FAQs
Q&A on asbestos testing services

Asbestos test lab and sample collection questions & answers.

This article series offers help with asbestos testing, asbestos removal, and the identification and handling of asbestos insulation.

Watch out: Testing for asbestos can be difficult, particularly in some materials such as flooring. Be sure to 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.

Asbestos Test Lab Lists Show Where to find an Certified Asbestos Testing Laboratory: NIST, NVLAP, & State Agencies

These questions & answers were posted originally

at ASBESTOS TESTING LAB LIST - be sure to review the advice given there along with sources of certified asbestos testing laboratories & services.

On 2019-01-15 by (mod) - how to decide if flooring probably contains asbestos

Tabitha

At ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE IDENTIFICATION

you will find 5 easy questions you can answer to make a reasonable guess at whether or not your floor contains asbestos

In the ARTICLE INDEX near the end of this or that asbestos flooring page you'll find more articles on

assessing the asbestos hazard

reducing the asbestos hazard

On 2019-01-15 by Tabitha

Recommendations on companies that do in home Abestos inspections.

We are remodeling our guest bathroom and noticed the flooring underneath the vinyl we pulled up is questionable.

I’ve read that this is not of danger to your health unless it has been disturbed.

Unfortunately I believe we have disturbed whatever it may be by scraping some up .

We are waiting to do anything further until we get a professional opinion. I’ve called at least 20 different numbers from google that says they inspect and remove Abestos but of no luck for anyone to come out.

Please let me know if this is indeed Abestos from the photos.

I know you cannot tell Me 100 percent without testing.

I have four small children and I’m trying to Protect them and leave the home for now if we need to

On 2018-10-21 by (mod) -

John

Choe didn't report back on any testing.

Fir the case you describe, generally it's safest, and most-economical to leave an intact floor in place and to cover it over with new flooring materials.

On 2018-10-21 by John

@MJ CHOE,
Hi MJ,
I have almost the same circumstances in my basement, covered with carpet.

Brittle thin hard tiles with black adhesive on concrete slab. Did you find out anything further? I'm guessing it was left and covered since it has asbestos...

On 2018-10-04 by (mod) -

Mj
from what you said I would treat the floor is presumed to contain asbestos.

If you want to have a sample tested there's a link to asbestos test labs in this article

At ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE IDENTIFICATION

you will find 5 easy questions you can answer to make a reasonable guess at whether or not your floor contains asbestos

On 2018-10-03 by MJ CHOE

I purchased a home a year ago with wood flooring in the basement. I noticed that the wood floor was buckling at multiple areas.

When the flooring guy pulled up the wood to fix the damaged areas, we found some crumbling vinyl tiles underneath the wood floor. Floor was all cracked. I was just going to remove the old floor and lay some engineered wood but a friend told me I may have asbestos.

How can I tell? Can you tell by the way it looks? my house was built in 1957. The tiles are 9x9 and pretty thin

On 2018-08-05 by (mod) -

Follow-up: Josh sent us a sample, we examined it in our forensic lab and confirmed that the material was mineral wool.

On 2018-06-16 14 by (mod) - this stuff is not asbestos

Looks like loose fill or blown- fiberglass or more-likely, mineral wool.

Contact me by email using the page top or bottom CONTACT link and I'll take a look in our forensic lab, pro-bono.

On 2018-06-15 by Josh

I'd love to get your thoughts on this, but I'm also considering getting it tested.

This is blown-in insulation from our attic. The house was built in 1958. There isn't any extra bag/box of insulation or any information we can use to determine brand/manufacturer/etc.

The texture is cotton candy-like, quite fibrous, and it is a dark grey.

On 2018-05-17 by (mod) - should I get this ceiling tile tested for asbestos?

This looks like a wood-fiber or cellulose-based acoustic ceiling tile. We don't know the brand.

There's a roughly 40% chance that it contains asbestos.

Please show photos of the box, all sides that have labels or writing, and also check the back of the ceiling tiles for any stamps or markings and show us those.

Keep me posted on lab results - what you find will help other readers. Thanks. - Editor.

On 2018-05-17 by Mm

Thoughts here? Thanks! Getting tested but wanted to see if any thoughts... house built in 1958.. not sure when these ceiling tiles installed. No markings anywhere on the tiles, as there were extra of them in a box in the attic.

On 2018-04-04 by (mod) -

Vancouver Geochemistry

Vancouver Environmental

On 2018-04-04 by Al

Can you recommend certified asbestos testing labs in British Columbia, Canada? In your list all the ones for Canada are in Ontario.

On 2017-04-17 by (mod) -

Help

I can't guess at what your floor is from just the e-text, but you are welcome to try sending some sharp photos using the page top or bottom CONTACT link

On 2017-04-17 by help identifying flooring

I don't know if this is concrete or asphalt. Also if it's vinyl. Last question. It's in an older school building & they want me clean this floor but the surface is old. No shine just stained. Can you help

Question: vinyl basement tiles have broken into pieces underfoot

(Nov 7, 2014) Working with Lab Test Results said:

Many of our vinyl basement tiles have broken into pieces underfoot and some have come totally off whole or are loose.

Tested a piece of yellow tile a few years ago at one lab. Tested a piece of red tile (after a basement flood two months ago that caused more tiles to loosen up) at a second lab

. Both times the floor tiles came back positive for asbestos and the black mastic came back negative.

We're considering having all the tiles professionally removed by an asbestos abatement company. The company assures us it's difficult to release asbestos from the tiles unless they are ground.

Is it reasonable to say that asbestos encapsulated in vinyl tiles can be safely removed by an asbestos abatement company using proper technique?

The abatement company did not quote us for mastic removal. Some of the contractors and equipment rental people we talked to are insisting the black mastic has asbestos in it even though the lab tests came back negative.

Any reason to treat the black mastic as an asbestos health hazard during its removal after the tiles are gone if the labs found no asbestos in the mastic?

Reply:

Working

I agree in general with what the company said to you EXCEPT that smashing and bashing floor tiles to break them up to remove them can also release asbestos dust.

If your mastic sample and test were reliable then it ought not be an asbestos concern.

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.

InspectAPedia is an independent publisher of building, environmental, and forensic inspection, diagnosis, and repair information provided free to the public - we have no business nor financial connection with any manufacturer or service provider discussed at our website. We do not sell products nor services.

...

Continue reading  at ASBESTOS TESTING LAB LIST or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE LAB PROCEDURES
• ASBESTOS TESTING LAB LIST
• ASBESTOS TESTING SAMPLE COLLECTION
• CHAIN OF CUSTODY FORM for ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES
• CHOOSE a FLOOD DAMAGE RESTORATION or MOLD REMEDIATOR
• CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
• CONSULTANTS & EXPERTS DIRECTORIES to find an environmental inspection & test expert
• DUST SAMPLING PROCEDURE
• FEES: How Much Should You Pay?

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ASBESTOS TESTING LAB FAQs at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

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INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to ASBESTOS HAZARDS

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