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Photographs provided on this page illustrate what asbestos fibers or fragments may look like under the polarized light microscope. This document assists building buyers, owners or inspectors who need to identify asbestos materials (or probable-asbestos) in buildings by simple visual inspection.

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ASBESTOS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - Micro photographs of Asbestos

We provide photographs and descriptive text of asbestos insulation and other asbestos-containing products to permit identification of definite, probable, or possible asbestos materials in buildings.

While an expert lab test using polarized light microscopy may be needed to identify the specific type of asbestos fiber, or to identify the presence of asbestos in air or dust samples, many asbestos-containing building products not only are obvious and easy to recognize, but since there were not other look-alike products that were not asbestos, a visual identification of this material can be virtually a certainty in many cases.

Also see Asbestos HVAC Ducts a field identification guide to visual detection of asbestos in and on heating and cooling system ducts and flue vents, and see Micro-Photographs of Dust from the World Trade Center collapse following the 9/11/01 attack. Links to U.S. government and other authoritative research and advice are included.

Here are two photographs showing what a sample of asbestos ceiling fireproofing (tremolite asbestos) looks like in our lab microscope using polarized light microscopy (PLM). Notice that in the first photo you see long very thin multi-fibrous filaments - asbestiform tremolite.

Each filament is less than one micron in diameter. In the second photograph you'll observe non-fibrous granular particles, many less than one micron in diameter as well - non-asbestiform tremolite. [McCrone]

This asbestos sample was collected from slabs of nearly pure tremolite asbestos which was used as Fireproofing containing Asbestos in a commercial building.

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ASBESTOS FLOORING HAZARD REDUCTION
ASBESTOS-FREE INSULATION MATERIALS
ASBESTOS IDENTIFICATION IN buildings
  ASBESTOS AIR DUCTS
  Asbestos Air Duct Vibration Dampers
  ASBESTOS in CARPETING, PADDING
  ASBESTOS CEILING TILES, Asbestos-Containing
  ASBESTOS DUCTS, HVAC
  ASBESTOS DUCT INSULATION, Asbestos Paper
  ASBESTOS DUCTS, Transite Pipe
  ASBESTOS FIREPROOFING SPRAY-On Coatings
  ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE IDENTIFICATION
  ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE Laboratory Procedures
  ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE PHOTO ID GUIDE
  ASBESTOS FLOORING HAZARD REDUCTION
  ASBESTOS FLOORING REMOVAL GUIDE
  Asbestos Foamed-Over
  ASBESTOS INSULATION
  ASBESTOS PAPER DUCT INSULATION
  ASBESTOS PIPE INSULATION
  ASBESTOS ROOFING, CEMENT & FIBER CEMENT
  ASBESTOS ROOFING / SIDING DUST
  ASBESTOS SIDING CEMENT & FIBER CEMENT
  Asbestos in unusual places
  Asphalt-asbestos Paints & sealants
  Carbon Nanotube Materials
  TRANSITE PIPE AIR DUCTS
  Transite Pipe Chimneys & Flues
  Transite Pipe Water Supply Piping
  VERMICULITE INSULATION
ASBESTOS FLOORING HAZARD REDUCTION
ASBESTOS FLOORING REMOVAL GUIDE
ASBESTOS List of Asbestos-Containing Products
ASBESTOS MATERIAL REGULATIONS
ASBESTOS MATERIAL REGULATIONS Update
ASBESTOS MATERIAL REGULATIONS, OSHA Roofing/Siding
ASBESTOS Photo Guide to Materials / Products
ASBESTOS REMOVAL, Amateur, Incomplete
Asbestos Removal, Certification
ASBESTOS REMOVAL GUIDE, FLOORING
ASBESTOS REMOVAL, Wetting Guidelines
ASBESTOS RISK ASSESSMENT
  Asbestos risk: in Good Condition
  Asbestos risk: in Poor Condition
Asbestos Under the Microscope

INSULATION IDENTIFICATION GUIDE
  ASBESTOS-FREE INSULATION MATERIALS
  ASBESTOS IDENTIFICATION IN buildings
  Asbestos Pipe Insulation
  Balsam Wool Batt Insulation
  BLOWN-IN INSULATION
  BRICK LINED WALLS
  BRICK VENEER WALL INSULATION
  Cellulose loose fill insulation
  Ceramic Insulation
  Concrete insulation, light-weight
  Cotton Insulating Batts
  Fiberglass Insulation
  Foam Board Insulation
  Foam Insulation Types - Visual Id
  Homasote & Other Insulating Board
  Icynene Foam Spray Insulation
  Mineral Wool - Rock Wool Insulation
  Paper Duct Insulation
  Perlite Insulation
  PHENOLIC FOAM INSULATION
  POLYISOCYANURATE FOAM INSULATION
  POLYISOCYANURATE FOAM BELOW SLABS
  POLYSTYRENE FOAM INSULATION
  STRESS SKIN INSULATED PANELS
  STUCCO OVER FOAM INSULATION
  SUPER HI-R INSULATION
  SUPERINSULATION RETROFIT
  VERMICULITE INSULATION

• 3/07: thanks to Gary Randolph, Ounce of Prevention Home Inspection, LLC Buffalo, NY, for attentive reading and editing suggestions. Mr. Randolph can be reached in Buffalo, NY, at (716) 636-3865 or email: gary@ouncehome.com
• 06/07: thanks for photographs of transite asbestos heating ducts, courtesy of Thomas Hauswirth, Managing Member of Beacon Fine Home Inspections, LLC and (in 2007) Vice President, Connecticut Association of Home Inspectors Ph. 860-526-3355 Fax 860-526-2942 beaconinspections@sbcglobal.net

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

• Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.

Asbestos Hazard, Testing, Removal, References & Products

• Environmental Health & Investigation Bibliography - our own technical library on indoor air quality inspection, testing, laboratory procedures, forensic microscopy, etc.
• ASBESTOS IDENTIFICATION IN buildings How to find and recognize asbestos in buildings - visual inspection methods, list of common asbestos-containing materials
• Asbestos Identification and Testing References
• Asbestos Identification, Walter C.McCrone, McCrone Research Institute, Chicago, IL.1987 ISBN 0-904962-11-3. Dr. McCrone literally "wrote the book" on asbestos identification procedures which formed the basis for current work by asbestos identification laboratories.
• Stanton, .F., et al., National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 506: 143-151
• Pott, F., Staub-Reinhalf Luft 38, 486-490 (1978) cited by McCrone
• Asbestos in Good Condition
• Asbestos in Good Condition
• Asbestos in Your Home U.S. EPA, Exposure Evaluation Division, Office of Toxic Substances, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington,D.C. 20460
• Asbestos HVAC Ducts and Flues field identification photos and guide
• Asbestos NESHAP Adequately Wet Guidance, EPA340/1-90-019, December 1990, U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Stationary Source Compliance Division, Washington, DC 20460,original web source: http://www.epa.gov/region04/air/asbestos/awet.htm
• Asbestos paper duct wrap
• Asbestos products and their history and use in various building materials such as asphalt and vinyl flooring includes discussion which draws on Asbestos, Its Industrial Applications, D.V. Rosato, engineering consultant, Newton, MA, Reinhold Publishing, 1959 Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 59-12535 (out of print, text and images available at InspectAPedia.com).
• Asbestos Transite Chimneys, Flues, & Pipes in buildings
• Asbestos under the microscope
• Asbestos Vibration Dampers & Asbestos in the Air Handler
• Ceiling tiles: How to recognize ceiling tiles that may contain asbestos
• Examples of unusual uses of asbestos in buildings
• Fiberglass: Indoor Air Quality Investigations: Health Concerns About Airborne Fiberglass: Fiberglass in Indoor Air from HVAC ducts, and Building Insulation
• Enviro-Scare: Electric Power Lines, Electromagnetic Fields, Cancer Risk, & "Enviro-Scare" - The Normal Curve Cycle of Public Fear of Environmental Issues
• Dust from the World Trade Center collapse following the 9/11/01 attack: the lower floors of this building contained spray-on fire-proofing asbestos materials.
• Asbestos Information Links: Asbestos Detection, Testing, Recognition, Hazards, Field Photos, and Information Sources, including health-related links such as legal services and information about mesothelioma and other cancers.
• "Handling Asbestos-Containing roofing material - an update", Carl Good, NRCA Associate Executive Director, Professional Roofing, February 1992, p. 38-43
• EPA Guidance for Controlling Asbestos-Containing Materials in buildings, NIAST, National Institute on Abatement Sciences & Technology, [republishing EPA public documents] 1985 ed., Exposure Evaluation Division, Office of Toxic Substances, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington,D.C. 20460