The purpose of this site is to provide helpful information to victims of mesothelioma, including information on hospitals, doctors, treatments and legal help.

Asbestos Vinyl

Asbestos vinyl was used (up until the mid-1970s) as backing for flooring tiles and wallpapers. The combination of asbestos and vinyl seemed like a good idea at the time; vinyl is water-resistant, asbestos is fire-resistant, and both materials are resilient and long-lasting. Asbestos vinyl was available in both tiles and sheets that could be cut to specific measurements and shapes. It seemed like a good option for “wet” rooms such as the kitchen and bathrooms, and thus thousands of homes and other buildings in the U.S. had asbestos vinyl products installed in them.

Asbestos Vinyl Is Now Banned

However, most uses of asbestos vinyl were banned in the 70s due to the toxic nature of asbestos - a group of friction- and fire-resistant minerals composed of millions of tiny fibers.

The fibers that make up the asbestos in old asbestos vinyl products are bound into a matrix that holds them in place. If the flooring or wallpaper made of asbestos vinyl is disturbed or in a deteriorating condition, the fibers may well be loosened and become airborne.

This possibility (as with virtually all asbestos materials) is what brought about the ban on asbestos vinyl flooring and wallpaper products. Airborne asbestos fibers are so small that they hang suspended in the air for hours (even days) where they may be inhaled by humans in the area.

A Slow Poison causing Asbestos Cancer

Inhaled or ingested asbestos fibers are poison - a slow poison, but a poison nevertheless. The fibers do not disintegrate in the body; they lodge themselves in the lungs, the mesothelium (a tissue lining of the chest cavity), the pericardium around the heart, and in other organs. Once lodged, they initiated a disease process that can end years or even decades later in:

  • very painful symptoms
  • lung cancer
  • asbestosis
  • respiratory problems
  • mesothelioma cancer (cancer of the mesothelium)
  • cancer that has metastasized to other organs

If You Worked with Asbestos Vinyl get tested for Asbestos Cancer

The people who install or remove asbestos vinyl flooring and wallpaper are at an extra-high risk of contracting an asbestos cancer disease. Contact mesothelioma treatment centers today to learn more about your medical and legal options.

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