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Here is our photo guide and text that can help in identification of asbestos-containing roofing products like asphalt shingles & asbestos-cement roof shingles. This document assists building buyers, owners or inspectors who need to identify asbestos materials (or probable-asbestos) in buildings by simple visual inspection. In the website sections listed below, 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.

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Photo guide to asbestos containing roofing products

Most roofing materials are considered to be non-friable, and are probably less hazardous than other friable asbestos products such as asbestos pipe insulation. However removal of asbestos-containing roofing products is regulated as we discuss below.

Guide to Asphalt-asbestos Roof Shingles, Roll Roofing & Roofing Mastics & Coatings

Also see our asphalt roofing materials articles at ASPHALT ROOF SHINGLES and at ROOFING INSPECTION & REPAIR

Guide to Cement-asbestos roof shingles

Asbestos cement roof shingles were in popular use in the U.S. from the 1920's (est) through the 1960's (est) and were sold in the U.S. into the 1970's and according to some sources even in the 1980's.. The mixture of asbestos fibers and portland cement to form a hard material that was was durable and fire resistant is credited to Ludwig Hatschek who, in 1900, came up with the name Eternit associated with a U.S. producer of these products.

The typical life expectancy of an cement asbestos shingle roof was given as 30 years, but we've seen these roofs that were now 50 years old in good condition. Typical roof wear or failure patterns are either failure of the shingle fasteners or broken and falling shingles.

Asbestos cement corrugated roofing has been in use over the same time period and was generally a thicker material used in low-cost applications such as on sheds, barns, and low-income housing in some areas.

Roofing materials that use fibers and aggregate other than asbestos are properly called "fiber cement" roofing products. Some manufacturers use the term "fiber-reinforced cement" for these products. All of these products use some sort of fiber along with cement. Before 1978 in the U.S. the common fiber used was asbestos.

Cement asbestos shingles (or asbestos cement roofing shingles) have a medium in-place cost and durability compared with other roofing products and a a fire rating of Class A or B.

Also see Corrugated Cement-Asbestos Roofing.

Environmental Issues With Cement Asbestos Roof Shingles

The asbestos in cement asbestos roofing products is not friable under normal conditions. That is, it is not normally easily crushed into dust by hand. However very work asbestos cement shingles, or shingles that are mishandled during demolition (breaking into many small pieces, running power saws to cut the material) risks creating airborne asbestos-contaminated dust which could be a health and environmental hazard.

Also in some communities special measures and added costs are involved because of a requirement for air-testing during removal and possibly costs to dispose of the material in an appropriate landfill. (After all, originally this material came from the land.)

Asphalt-asbestos paints and sealants

Asbestos-filled asphalt paint was used damp proofing on building foundations and as a roofing sealant for many decades up to 1978

Also see our articles at ROOFING INSPECTION & REPAIR

OSHA Regulation of roof demolition where asbestos containing roofing materials ACRM are present

Beginning in 1986 OSHA set a permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 0.2 fibers per cubic centimeter (f/cc) of air over an 8-hour time-weighted average exposure period. OSHA also set an action level of 0.1 f/cc of asbestos for an 8-hour TWA average, and (the highest permitted short term asbestos fiber exposure) 1.0 f/cc "excursion limit" for a 30-minute time period. According to NRCA, the National Roofing Contractors' Association, their studies up to February 1992 had not found a single roofing job at which these limits were exceeded, and NRCA reported that in some cases no fiber release was detected.

We note that the association would have been referring only to asphalt-based roofing materials, not jobs involving the demolition of other ACRM such as cement-asbestos roof shingles (or "asbestos roof tiles" as some consumers refer to them) which might produce different statistics.

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ASBESTOS IDENTIFICATION IN BUILDINGS

ASBESTOS CEMENT ROOFING
  Asphalt-asbestos Roofing Materials
  Cement-asbestos roof shingles
  Environmental Issues - Asbestos Shingles
  Wear Signs on Cement Asbestos Shingles
  Maintenance Tips for Asbestos Cement Shingles
  Replacements for Asbestos Cement Shingles
  Corrugated Cement-Asbestos Roofing
  Asphalt-asbestos Paints & sealants
  OSHA Regulation Asbestos Roofing
  ASBESTOS REGULATION Update
Asbestos in unusual places
Asbestos-Free Insulation Materials
Insulation Material Identification Guide
  Asbestos-Free Insulation Materials

ROOFING INSPECTION & REPAIR
CERTIFICATIONS for ROOFING CONTRACTORS
CHOOSING A ROOFING CONTRACTOR
ASBESTOS CEMENT ROOFING
ASPHALT ROOF SHINGLES
CHIMNEY INSPECTION & REPAIRS
FIRE RETARDANT PLYWOOD
ROOF INSPECTION SAFETY & LIMITS
SLATE ROOF INSPECTION & REPAIR
STANDARDS for ROOFING
WARRANTIES for ROOF SHINGLES
WORKMANSHIP & WIND DAMAGE

• 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).
• "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
• "Asbestos in the 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
• NRCA Roofing and Waterproofing Manual, 4th Ed., available from the National Roofing Contractors' Association.
• "Tips for working with fiber-cement roofing products", Thomas L. Smith, AIA, RRC, Professional Roofing, September 1996
• "About Asbestos Cement Roof Shingles", Ann Johnson, at ehow.com, a nice article about the history of this material - November 2008.

Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

ASBESTOS IDENTIFICATION IN BUILDINGS
Asbestos Risk Assessment
Asbestos in Good Condition
Asbestos in Poor Condition
Asbestos Removal, Amateur, Incomplete
Asbestos Foamed-Over
Asbestos Air Ducts
Asbestos Air Duct Vibration Dampers
Asbestos Pipe Insulation
Asbestos Roofing Materials
Asbestos in unusual places
Carbon Nanotube Materials
Ceiling Tiles Containing Asbestos
Fireproofing containing Asbestos
Floor Tiles Containing Asbestos
Paper Duct Insulation Containing Asbestos
Transite Pipe Air Ducts
Transite Pipe Chimneys & Flues
Transite Pipe Water Supply Piping
Urea Formaldehyde Foam Insulation UFFI
Vermiculite Insulation Containing Asbestos
Other Asbestos-Containing Materials
Asbestos Under the Microscope
Mold Growth Resistance of Foam Insulation
Asbestos-Free Insulation Materials

Insulation Material Identification Guide
Asbestos-Free Insulation Materials

More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

• Asbestos: How to find and recognize asbestos in Buildings - visual inspection methods, list of common asbestos-containing materials
• Asbestos HVAC Ducts and Flues field identification photos and guide
• 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.
• 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

For more information about fiberglass as an indoor air quality concern see:

• Fiberglass in Indoor Air, HVAC Ducts, and Building Insulation
• Fiberglass Particle Identification in the Fiberglass Test Laboratory
• Goodman Gray Flex Duct Deterioration and Failures
• Mold in Fiberglass Insulation
• Optimum Indoor Air Filters
• Owens Corning Flex Duct Deterioration and Failures
• World Trade Center Dust Particle Identification

For more information about asbestos as an indoor air quality concern with focus on easy ways to identify asbestos materials in buildings, see:

• Asbestos Identification in Buildings: How to find & identify asbestos-containing materials
• Asbestos in Good Condition
• Asbestos HVAC Ducts - Asbestos Materials On or In Heating and Cooling Duct Work
• Asbestos paper duct wrap
• 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

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