Vinyl Wallpaper Asbestos

If you are thinking about buying new wallpaper and wondering if it has asbestos in it the answer is no.

Vinyl wallpaper asbestos.

However if the wallpaper is in a high traffic area or touched frequently it s a good idea to remove it as this is likely to cause exposure. If you do have old vinyl wallpaper in your home it could contain asbestos and should be carefully and promptly removed or replaced. In addition to being so cheap asbestos was desirable because asbestos is heat resistant making your house safer from fire though not making it safe from asbestos exposure. Today it is possible to use vinyl wallpaper without toxicity concerns.

In those cases it was actually. For about 35 years flooring companies included asbestos when they manufactured the vinyl tiles. Older buildings may still have asbestos containing wallpaper on their interior walls. Asbestos was used in vinyl wallpaper because it was cheap lightweight durable and fire resistant.

Asbestos is a mineral that lends fireproofing qualities to any substance it is mixed with. In addition vinyl wallpaper typically contained asbestos an extremely harmful chemical that is known to cause mesothelioma. This friable state can turn to dust and release millions of microscopic asbestos fibers into the room. In the late 1970s when it was made widely known how toxic asbestos was vinyl wallpaper was no longer manufactured using asbestos but products containing the deadly mineral continued to be sold through the 1980s.

Dried asbestos fibers in vinyl wallpaper can broke down and crumble. If your home was remodeled with wallpaper between 1930 through the late 1980 s you may be at risk for asbestos exposure. Asbestos has been used in vinyl wallpaper since the 1920s and vinyl floor tiles and sheet flooring rose to prominence in the 1950s. If you are in a home where vinyl wallpaper was hung prior to the late 90s then there is a good chance it has asbestos in it.

If done incorrectly it can release the asbestos in to your home. For wallpaper asbestos would be found in the finest wallpaper usually found in large 40 room houses not a typical flat. But the flooring companies aim wasn t so much to make the floor tiles fireproof as it was to make the tiles more durable. The wondrous new no wax flooring sold by companies such as congoleum put a glossy sheen on post war american prosperity.