The release of asbestos fibers from vinyl-asbestos floor tiles

Abstract

There have been extensive studies of the release of asbestos fibers from friable materials used for construction. To date very little is known about the release of asbestos fibers from materials we assume to be non-friable. Since one of the major uses of asbestos was in the manufacture of floor tiles, and flooring is scoured prior to applying sealants, we have studied the release of asbestos from tiles treated in ways which model the processes tiles would be subjected to over their time of use.Vinyl-asbestos tiles were gathered and assayed for their asbestos content by TEM and polarized light microscopy (PLM). Containments were set up and the following experiments performed: 1. 9 inch square tiles were drilled 10 times with a 3/4 inch drill 2. tiles were drilled once with the drill bit above 3. tiles were boken into 1 1/2 inch pieces 4. tiles were broken into 4 pieces 5. tiles were stripped, and then coated with sealants prior to further scrubbing.