Flooring, Mastic & Adhesive Asbestos Exposure
Flooring exposure can be remembered through the room, building, renovation, tile size, sheet material or adhesive cleanup even when the manufacturer is unknown. Those practical memories can guide a mesothelioma investigation.
The room, floor system and removal method can identify the exposure history
Historically, asbestos was used in some floor tiles, sheet-flooring backings and flooring mastics. Renovation and removal work can therefore be important even for people who did not originally install the floor.
Flooring type
Describe what the material looked like.
- Resilient floor tile
- Sheet flooring or felt-backed flooring
- Commercial or institutional flooring
- Older flooring uncovered during renovation
Adhesive clues
The bonding material can be a separate product family.
- Dark or black mastic
- Troweled flooring adhesive
- Residue remaining on concrete or wood
- Adhesive softened, scraped or mechanically removed
Work tasks
How the floor was handled matters.
- Cutting and fitting
- Sanding or grinding
- Breaking and removing old tile
- Scraping or cleaning adhesive residue
Where it happened
Building use and renovation history can provide records and witnesses.
- Schools and public buildings
- Factories and offices
- Apartment and residential renovations
- Hospitals and institutional buildings
Details worth writing down now
- Was it tile, sheet flooring or another floor system?
- Do you remember the size, color or pattern?
- Was there dark mastic or another adhesive underneath?
- Was the flooring cut, sanded, broken or scraped?
- Was this installation, repair or demolition?
- What building, contractor and approximate years do you remember?
Do not worry if some answers are incomplete. Work histories can be developed from partial memories, coworkers, employment records, jobsite information and other evidence.