Asbestos was used very widely in Finnish construction from the 1920s right up to the early 1990s. In buildings from the 1960s-1980s in particular, it turns up in a great many different materials. This article goes through the most common places and materials in which asbestos is found.
Tile adhesives
Tile adhesives are among the most common asbestos-containing materials in Finnish buildings. The adhesives used behind bathroom and kitchen wall and floor tiling often contain asbestos, which was added to improve the adhesive's strength and its resistance to heat. During a renovation, lifting tiles can release asbestos fibres into the air if the adhesive has not been tested first.
Wall fillers and grouts
Wall filler is another very common source of asbestos. It was used to level walls and ceilings before painting or papering. Asbestos-containing filler may lie in several layers on top of one another, and it is especially dangerous when sanded, because the dust travels so readily. Grouts in bathrooms can contain asbestos too.
Vinyl flooring and vinyl tiles
Asbestos is often found in old vinyl flooring and vinyl tiles and in the adhesives beneath them. In vinyl flooring, asbestos was used as a reinforcing material; in floor adhesives it served as a binder. When lifting flooring, pay particular attention to the layer of adhesive beneath, which may contain asbestos whether or not the flooring itself does.
Pipe insulation
In older buildings, the insulation on heating and water pipes is often made of asbestos-containing material. Pipe insulation is particularly awkward because it so often has to be taken off or disturbed during pipe replacement work. Asbestos-containing pipe insulation is often a grey or white compound that crumbles easily when handled.
Roofing materials
Asbestos was used in various roofing materials as well, such as roof tiles, corrugated asbestos-cement roofing sheets (eternit) and roofing felt. Eternit sheeting - asbestos-cement board - was a very common roofing material in Finland. Acoustic panels in ceilings and the backing card behind panelling may also contain asbestos.
Floor adhesives and compounds
The adhesives and levelling compounds under a floor often contain asbestos. Parquet adhesives, vinyl flooring adhesives and floor compounds in buildings completed before the 1990s should all be tested before anything is taken up. There is nothing on the surface to show whether a floor adhesive contains asbestos, so the only reliable way to settle it is laboratory analysis.
Ventilation systems
Asbestos may be present in the ventilation ducts of older buildings and in their insulation. The seals and fire insulation in ventilation equipment may contain it too. Before any ventilation work, the possibility of asbestos should always be investigated in advance.
How do you confirm it?
Asbestos cannot be identified with the naked eye; the only reliable way is laboratory analysis. If your building was constructed or renovated before 1994, it is worth testing the materials that will be taken out. You can take the sample yourself and send it to a laboratory for analysis.
Testing matters most where removal work, sanding or other dust-raising jobs are planned. Intact asbestos-containing material is not a danger, but once it is broken up or disturbed the fibres are released into the air you breathe.