As a sprayed coating on walls, beams, ceilings and columns.Here’s a list of some of the most common places where the material might be found: You can find asbestos in a wide variety of building materials used both inside and outside residential and industrial properties. If you’re wondering how to know if you have asbestos, one of the first things to check is whether the space you’re inspecting was built or refurbished during this time, as the use of asbestos was banned in the UK in 2000. Where Is Asbestos Found?Īsbestos was used as a building material in all kinds of industrial or residential buildings that were constructed or refurbished before 2000. Non-friable asbestos is much more solid and doesn’t crumble when agitated, whereas reliable asbestos appears much less solid and will fall apart and disintegrate when it is knocked or has pressure applied. When learning what asbestos looks like, it is also important to understand the difference between friable and non-friable asbestos. This is one of the most commonly used types of asbestos, found in all kinds of building materials. Amosite asbestos is brown and found more frequently in the US, and is also known for posing the biggest risk of cancer.Ĭhrysotile asbestos is white in colour and can be identified by its curly fibres that are arranged in a layered structure when used in materials. There are three main types of asbestos that can be recognised by their difference in colour.Ĭrocidolite asbestos is a light blueish white, consists of long and thin fibres, and is known for being the most dangerous kind of asbestos. Clumps of asbestos may separate into strings or fibres, which are made up of microscopic asbestos fibres that are easily dislodged and sent into the air, where they can be inhaled. In its raw or loose form, asbestos appears to be a loose and almost fluffy material that is either grey, grey-brown or grey-blue. Hundreds of different products are known to contain asbestos, so there are plenty of different ways the material can look. In this article, we explain what asbestos looks like and where it’s likely to be found, as well as share how to identify asbestos in some of the most common places it can be found. It’s for this reason that asbestos identification is so important if you’re likely to end up working around it, as you’ll need to take immediate action to ensure you stay safe. If your day-to-day work is likely to bring you into contact with materials containing asbestos then knowing how to recognise asbestos and the signs of asbestos in different settings can be incredibly valuable.Īsbestos fibres are incredibly dangerous, made even more so by the fact that individual fibres are invisible to the naked eye. Whilst asbestos isn’t a material that is used in any UK construction materials anymore, it’s still something that is causing problems and presenting health risks to both people working in this industry and people living or working in older buildings.

Identifying asbestos ceiling tile