Finding black mastic asbestos in your home is no reason to panic
Black mastic is a common flooring adhesive.
Older black mastic adhesives likely contain asbestos fibers.
Testing tells you for certain if you have black mastic asbestos.
Only a pro should remove flooring with older black mastic.
Newer black mastic adhesive no longer contains asbestos.
Many people feel confident about tackling a new flooring installation project themselves. However, when removing the old floor, especially linoleum or vinyl, you may see a dried black glue or adhesive underneath. This could be black mastic that contains asbestos. You should be very careful with black mastic asbestos adhesive because of the possibility of severe illness through asbestos exposure.
Black mastic is a catch-all term for almost any kind of synthetic flooring adhesive that is black in color. Mastic has a consistency like glue or resin. Although mastic is often black, other colors are available, too. Some of these other colors may also have asbestos in them if they’re old enough.
Dating back to the 1880s, manufacturers added asbestos to black mastic. The asbestos fibers increased the durability of the adhesive, while improving the heat and fire resistance.
Manufacturers continue to make black mastic products today, but newer formulations are latex based or water based. Companies stopped making black mastic products containing asbestos in the late 1990s. If someone installed your floor around that time or earlier, the black mastic flooring glue could have asbestos in it.
The black mastic adhesive itself is not dangerous. It’s the addition of asbestos fibers that make it dangerous, as exposure to such fibers can cause cancer in people.
Although the dangers of inhaling asbestos became well known by the 1940s, manufacturers continued making black mastic and other adhesives with asbestos for decades. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned making new adhesives with asbestos in them—along with many other products containing asbestos—in 1989.
Black mastic adhesive looks like any other type of dried adhesive once you remove the flooring over the top of it. It usually is smooth, although it may have some shallow marks from a trowel during application.
Learning how to identify asbestos floor tiles and black mastic asbestos adhesive is challenging for a novice who doesn’t deal with old flooring regularly. You cannot determine if the adhesive has asbestos in it just by looking at it.
Testing it is the only way to know if it has asbestos for certain, although the estimated age of the floor can give you an idea. If you’re simply unsure about what you are seeing, stop removing the floor and call a local pro for help with identification and testing. This is the safest option.
What is asbestos? It is a natural mineral that people have been mining for centuries, consisting of tiny fibers. It appeared in many products and for many use cases because of its heat and fire resistance. However, as researchers began to link the inhalation of asbestos fibers to an increased chance of cancer, people stopped using it in new products.
What does asbestos look like? Unfortunately, you cannot simply avoid an asbestos exposure by looking for the fibers floating in the air. The fibers are microscopic. They can hang in the air for several days before settling. As long as you do not disturb the product containing asbestos, the fibers should not go into the air.
You simply cannot know if you are inhaling asbestos fibers. These fibers do not cause immediate irritation to your eyes, nose, or throat. You won’t start coughing or wheezing at the time of an asbestos inhalation.
Instead, you may only begin to show symptoms of the exposure more than 10 years afterward—and often far longer afterward.
The fibers cause scarring in the lungs. This scarring eventually can lead to lung cancer, mesothelioma, fluid around the lungs, and other ailments.
Although it was common knowledge by the 1940s that asbestos exposure greatly increased a person’s cancer risk, it continued to appear in products for a few more decades.
Because an exposure to asbestos fibers often takes decades to generate symptoms, it can be difficult to know if asbestos is making you ill. Some of the most common symptoms related to asbestos inhalation mimic other respiratory illnesses, including:
A cough and hoarseness that won't go away
A cough that includes blood
Swelling in the neck and face
Persistent pain in the upper chest
Persistent pain in the abdomen
Breathing difficulties
If you have any of these symptoms and believe you had an asbestos exposure in the past, doctors will run tests and scans looking for signs of the illnesses related to asbestos inhalation.
You have a couple of steps you can take after finding a substance you believe is black mastic asbestos in your home.
You may be able to avoid having problems with the black mastic adhesive by simply encapsulating it—meaning you can cover it with a new floor or with an asbestos sealant that works like paint. If you don’t disturb the black mastic, it won’t release asbestos fibers into the air. Disturbing black mastic can involve pulling it loose, drilling it, cutting it, or scraping it.
However, you also may not discover you have black mastic until you begin removing existing flooring, leaving you with a conundrum. You can’t know if you have black mastic for certain until you remove the floor over it, but this action disturbs it, possibly releasing asbestos fibers.
If you suspect you may have black mastic in old flooring, and if you simply don’t want to risk disturbing it, don’t rip up the old floor. Just place the new floor over the top. You can seal it before installing the new floor, too.
If this isn’t possible, or if you notice a substance that may be black mastic after removing part of the old floor, you’ll want to call a pro.
If you aren’t sure whether what you are seeing is black mastic adhesive, don’t disturb it any further. Instead, call a local asbestos removal company for testing. If the substance does not contain asbestos, you can do whatever you want with it. If it does have asbestos, you can have the company remove it safely.
The asbestos testing cost usually will be between $100 and $2,000 with an average of almost $500. The cost may be lower if you only want the area with the suspected black mastic asbestos tested. The company also can test the entire home for any substances with asbestos, if desired.
You should never attempt to remove black mastic asbestos yourself. Disturbing the material without safety gear and without the proper precautions could cause the asbestos fibers to move into the air. You then would have an exposure.
Pros have the gear and know-how for how to remove asbestos flooring and black mastic safely. Pros may soak the black mastic in liquid, may use heat, may use solvents, or may use extreme cold to try to loosen the adhesive to allow for its safe removal. After removing the black mastic adhesive, they then would clean the entire area thoroughly.
The average asbestos removal cost is about $2,200, but it can fit in a range between $450 and $6,000.
