For all these reasons it is very difficult to determine for sure whether or not ceiling or floor tiles contain asbestos.
Testing for asbestos in ceiling tiles.
According to the occupational safety and health administration osha individuals should suspect that any ceiling tiles installed before 1981 contain asbestos.
Some ceiling tiles or suspended ceiling drop in panels are quite obviously made of fiberglass by visual inspection.
If you can not see a flooring brand name or pattern for your ceiling tile material as you usually won t you should either test for asbestos or treat the ceiling tile as presumed to contain asbestos.
Lab test a ceiling tile sample for asbestos content.
Asbestos tiles can be difficult to identify because you can t see the asbestos in the tile.
If you face a costly dusty messy demolition it may be appropriate to have a sample of the ceiling tile tested.
You can test the tile yourself or hire an asbestos professional to inspect and test the tiles for asbestos.
Determine the age of your tiles.
Test the ceiling tile for asbestos.
Look at the ceiling tile material.
An asbestos expert will be able to determine if ceiling tiles contain asbestos.
While it is not possible to identify all forms of asbestos by mere visual inspection it is possible to identify some materials that are definitely not asbestos.
A suspended ceiling is more likely than other types of ceilings to contain asbestos tiles.
The older the tiles the more likely they are to contain asbestos.