Asbestos Products

Asbestos is a mineral with such attractive properties that it gained popularity during the mid 20th century and was widely used in building materials to improve their durability and heat resistance. In the 1970s, evidence surfaced linking the mineral to life-threatening diseases such as asbestosis and lung cancer. Regulations started being imposed on asbestos-containing products. The symptoms of asbestos-caused lung cancer often do not show up in victims until decades after exposure.

While industrial workers are generally considered at highest risk due to the nature of their work, people from all types of professions have been exposed to the deadly material through various ways. It is a common misconception that all asbestos products have been banned in the United States, leading to a false sense of security. While many laws and regulations have passed in regards to limiting the production and use of asbestos materials, a complete ban on the potentially deadly mineral has yet to come to fruition. Currently, there are still over 3,000 known products possibly containing asbestos on the market today.

If you believe you were exposed to asbestos from one of the following products, please call us at 1-800-998-9729 or contact us for more information and potential compensation. Products that have been known to contain asbestos include:

• Adhesives
• Appliance components
• Automotive products
  • Brake linings
  • Brake pads
  • Clutch plates
• Ceilings Products
  • Acoustical plaster
  • Ceiling panels
  • Ceiling texture (Popcorn texture)
  • Ceiling tiles
  • Ceiling tile mastic
  • Cement-asbestos board (Transite) products
  • Chimney flue lining
  • Ducts
  • Pipes
  • Shingles
  • Siding
  • Wall panels
• Chalkboards
• Electrical products
  • Cloth wire insulation
  • Electrical breakers
  • Electrical panel arc chutes
  • Electrical panel partitions
  • Electrical panels
  • Insulating cloth
• Fire protection products
  • Fire blankets
  • Fire curtains
  • Fire doors
  • Spray-on fireproofing
• Heating and Cooling System products
  • Boiler insulation
  • Boiler breeching insulation
  • Cooling towers
  • Duct work insulation
  • Furnace insulation
  • Gaskets
  • Heat shields (paper and corrugated cardboard)
  • HVAC vibration dampeners
  • Pipe lagging insulation
  • Pipe elbow insulation
  • Tank insulation
  • Tank casings
  • Thermal taping compounds
  • Elevator equipment
  • Elevator car brake shoes
  • Elevator equipment panels
• Flooring Products
  • Asphalt floor tiles
  • Carpet mastic
  • Coving mastic
  • Floor tile mastic
  • Vapor barriers
  • Vinyl floor tiles
  • Vinyl sheet flooring (linoleum)
• Industrial use products
  • Beverage filters
  • Friction materials
• Laboratory products
  • Heat resistant gloves
  • Laboratory hoods
  • Laboratory tables and countertops
• Paints and coatings
• Roofing Products
  • Base flashing
  • Felt
  • Shingles
  • Tar or "Black Jack"
• Table pads
• Wall Products
  • Decorative plaster
  • Caulking and putties
  • Spackling compounds
  • Vinyl wall coverings
  • Wall penetration packing materials
  • Wallboard joint compound
  • Wallboard or sheetrock
• Window glazing
• Vermiculite
  • Attic insulation
  • Fireplace decoration
  • Gardening products
  • Wall insulation

Asbestos Product Descriptions

1. Asbestos-Cement Corrugated Sheet
Asbestos-cement corrugated sheeting made encasing buildings economical and easy and was effective for both permanent and portable structures.

2. Asbestos-Cement Flat Sheet
Asbestos-cement flat sheets were often used in composite building products due to their structural strength, fire-resistant ability, and great insulation value.

3. Asbestos-Cement Pipe
Asbestos-cement pipes were often used because of their economical value while being strong and corrosion-resistant; however, they're also susceptible to shock damage which is a hazard due to the danger of asbestos.

4. Asbestos-Cement Shingle
Asbestos-cement shingles were popular because they are lightweight, heat-resistant and inexpensive while also providing consumers additional choices in color and texture compared to traditional shingles. They were used on both new roofs and applied over existing roofs.

5. Roof Coatings
Roof coatings are the top layer of a roofing composite membrane which protects the rest of the membrane from sunlight, rain, hail and other types of physical damage.

6. Flooring Felt
Flooring felt is a common type of tar paper used on top of flooring materials to prevent air infiltration and keep out liquid water, while allowing water vapor to escape from inside of the building.

7. Pipeline Wrap
Pipeline wraps are high strength and durable products used to reinforce and protect pipelines that otherwise might need to be replaced. They save businesses from high repair costs and tight schedules to meet regulated repair requirements.

8. Roofing Felt
Roofing felt is a common type of tar paper used to waterproof roofs and provide thermal insulation.

9. Asbestos Clothing
Asbestos tends to sticks to clothing when used in industrial work and many asbestos-related illnesses have been caused through second-hand asbestos exposure by these clothes.

10. Non-Roof Coatings
Non-roof coatings include all types of covering material used on surfaces to improve surface properties such as appearance, waterproofing, or heat resistance.

11. Vinyl/Asbestos Floor Tile
Almost all floor tiles manufactured in the 20th century until the mid 80's contained asbestos, and they are still in most homes built during this period. Because they were inexpensive and insulated heat well, asbestos-containing floor tiles were the favorite choice of building developers.

12. Automatic Transmission Component
Before 1985, most transmission components in automobiles were made with asbestos to protect them from the heat generated by the engine.

13. Clutch Facings
Clutch facings, which consists of a disc of friction material attached to a clutch plate, help control movement of various parts of a vehicle. Because clutch facings are subject to high temperatures generated during energy transfer, they use to be made with asbestos to protect them from the heat.

14. Disc Brake Pads
The disc brake is a device for slowing or stopping the rotation of a wheel on an automobile. The friction generated when the brake pads of a disc brake comes in contact with the wheel causes a car to stop or slow down.

15. Drum Brake Linings
The linings, made up of soft but strong and heat-resistant material, are the consumable surfaces in brake drums,. It is the part of the brake pad that comes in contact with the disc brake when braking is engaged, protecting the drums from receiving damage.

16. Brake Blocks
A brake block is the part of the brake holding the brake shoe. The brake shoe moves the brake linings and presses them against the inside of the drum. This action causes the brake to engage, slowing or stop the automobile.

17. Commercial and Industrial Asbestos Friction Products
These types of products include but are not limited to roll lining, molded slabs, flat sheets, drilled blocks, and flat circles.

18. Sheet and Beater-Add Gaskets (Except Specialty Industrial)
Gaskets are automotive friction products designed to fill the space between two sections of a component, to prevent leakage while under compression.

19. Commercial, Corrugated and Specialty Paper
Asbestos was a component in various types of papers used in building materials. Because asbestos strands are very thin while also strong, they were use to fortify products like asbestos paper which protected flooring and ceiling tiles.

20. Millboard

Millboards are strong, thin, dense boards with excellent insulating characteristics. They can be used in glass, steel, and aluminum appliances and in high and low temperature gaskets, as backup insulation, heat and flame shields, wood stove thermal barriers, parting media, duct insulation, low and high temperature dryers, and expansion joint material.

21. Rollboard
Rollboards are thin and flexible insulating materials often used in ceilings, floors, car doors and trunks, and for gaskets and exhaust systems. They can be fastened with contact-type cements, mechanically, or by sandwiching in between other materials.

Asbestos exposure in the workplace

See also asbestos exposure in military service.