Asbestos Testing

Asbestos appears in some surprising places. During our site surveys, we have taken samples from materials suspected of containing asbestos and had them analysed to confirm or refute the suspicion.

Below, we show a selection of guilty products to demonstrate the wide variety of uses and places it can be found.

All of these products, regardless of the amount of asbestos contained within them, need to be recorded and monitored within an asbestos management programme under the Control of Asbestos Regulations.

Important: This information is provided as a general demonstration only. Similar looking products in your building may or may not contain asbestos. The only way to know for certain is to have them sampled and tested.

From the video, you’ll see that we have a number of materials discovered during our surveys. This list is by no means definitive, since asbestos was used in thousands of products and materials.

Asbestos In Vinyl Sheet

Lino, floor tiles, certain vinlys often contains asbestos to add to their strength. Normally, the material will appear quite stiff and brittle when compared to the modern floor coverings.

We often discover old asbestos containing floor coverings underneath carpets, or under newer vinyl coverings.

Asbestos In Electrical Switchgear

Asbestos is often present in the flash pads of fuse carriers in older electrical switchgear and is still very common in industrial and commercial buildings today. The pads themselves appear to be fabric, but contain brown asbestos.

The casings of switchgear may also contain an asbestos gasket made from the same material.

Asbestos In Partitioning

Asbestos board was commonly used in industrial, commercial and even some domestic properties until the early 1980′s. Mostly, it will be the flat asbestos cement sheets which are extremely tough, though occasionally, the more friable and delicate Asbestos Insulation Board (AIB) was used.

AIB iusually contains both white (Chrysotile) and brown (Amosite) asbestos and because of the nature of the material, it can only be worked on by licensed contractors.

Asbestos In Lining Papers

On industrial type buildings, it is common for asbestos cement roofs to have internal liners. These come in various shapes and sizes and a number of different materials are used, from plasterboard through to asbestos cement lining panels.

On some buildings, we have discovered fibre board liners that have a paper lining and finish to them, which when tested, have been identified as being 100% chrysotile asbestos.

The same lining was also used inside electrical storage heaters and under floors.

Asbestos in Toilet Cisterns

It’s true! If you have an old toilet with a solid looking black cistern, the chances are that the resin used to make the cistern, also contains asbestos. The same is true of very old toilet seats.

These are perfectly safe, since the asbestos is contained within the resin matrix.

Both high level and low level cisterns we manufactured with this material.

Asbestos In Ceiling Tiles

Most ceiling tiles are made from fibre board and present no risk to health. However, some of the older acoustic ceiling tiles and certain types of ceiling tile did contain both white and brown asbestos.

The asbestos tiles look different to most modern ceiling tiles, but there’s really only one way to be certain that your ceiling tiles don’t contain asbestos, and that’s by getting them tested.

Asbestos In Boilers

Asbestos was used in boiler rooms throughout the world as a means of insulation which usually covered both the body of the boiler and the pipes that carried the hot water. This is probably the most dangerous of all of the materials you can find in a building since with age, it begins to deteriorate and break up, often contaminating the entire area with microscopic blue (Crocilodite) asbestos.

Such installations are now quite rare, with most boiler rooms being stripped of asbestos many years ago, as newer boilers or replacement systems were introduced.

Older boilers and flues though, still often contain asbestos gaskets, that appear string-like in appearance. Their inert nature means that they seldom create a health risk unless disturbed.

If you suspect that a material in your home or workplace contains asbestos and would like to get it tested, the cost is just £36 including VAT per sample.

We accept payment by cheque or online by credit or debit card.

For more information and impartial advice from qualified asbestos surveyors, please call 0121 711 7110.