Customer Service:
Mon - Fri: 8:30 am - 6 pm EST

Asbestos

Asbestos particle testing standards are published by ASTM, which include standard test methods and practices for building surveys, testing physical properties of friable surfacing materials, air permeability of asbestos fibers, and Turner and Newall wet-length classification of asbestos. They are necessary to protect personnel who remove and work with asbestos particles. Asbestos is a naturally-occurring silicate fiber that has electrical insulation and fire resistant properties that builders saw as desirable for building insulation until its negative effects on human health were discovered in the 1970s. These effects include links to asbestos cancer of the lungs, including mesothelioma. As a result, the use of asbestos as a building material has been outlawed in many countries, so many standards related to asbestos are on asbestos testing, asbestos test kits, and asbestos removal.

ASTM E2356-18

Standard Practice for Comprehensive Building Asbestos Surveys

1.1 This practice describes procedures for conducting comprehensive surveys of buildings and facilities for the purpose of locating, identifying, quantifying, and assessing asbestos-containing materials. 1.2 The results of a Comprehensive Building Asbestos Survey are intended to be used for ongoing management of asbestos-containing materials, including Operations and Maintenance (O M), removal, and other response actions. This includes response actions associated with renovations. A Comprehensive Building Asbestos Survey is also intended to provide information required for removal of asbestos-containing materials prior to demolition of a building or facility. 1.3 This practice discusses three types of surveys: Baseline Surveys, Project Design Surveys, and Pre-Construction Surveys. 1.4 This practice discusses the following activities for each of the above types of surveys: 1.4.1 Planning the survey to meet defined objectives; 1.4.2 Obtaining and reviewing information on the building or facility including previous surveys and response actions; 1.4.3 Conducting the physical activities of inspecting the premises and collecting bulk samples of suspect materials; 1.4.4 Analyzing the bulk samples for asbestos type and content; 1.4.5 Assessing the Current Condition and Potential for Disturbance of asbestos-containing materials; and 1.4.6 Preparing a report that includes a narrative discussion of the findings, tabulations of inspection, sampling and analysis results, graphical depiction of the areas inspected, and the results of the assessment. 1.5 This practice does not include air sampling or surface (dust) sampling for purposes of evaluating a potential exposure hazard from airborne asbestos fibers. The reader may find assistance with exposure assessment determination by reviewing Practice D7886 . 1.6 Warning Asbestos fibers are acknowledged carcinogens. Breathing asbestos fibers can result in disease of the lungs including asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. Precautions in this practice should be taken to avoid creating and breathing airborne asbestos particles from materials known or suspected to contain asbestos. See 2.2 for regulatory requirements addressing asbestos. 1.7 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard. The values given in parentheses are mathematical conversions to inch-pound units that are provided for information only and are not considered standard. 1.8 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. 1.9 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

Available for Subscriptions

ASTM E1494-18

Standard Practice for Testing Physical Properties of Friable Surfacing Materials

1.1 This practice covers encapsulants intended to reduce or eliminate the release of asbestos fibers from a matrix of friable spray- or trowel-applied asbestos-containing surfacing material. 1.2 This practice includes a series of determinations to be conducted in the field on asbestos abatement projects for which encapsulation is being considered or has been performed. 1.3 This practice is to be used to determine the appropriateness of encapsulation as an abatement measure in accordance with Practice E1368 , as part of a Project Design Survey in accordance with Practice E2356 , and to demonstrate completeness of abatement in accordance with Practice E1368 . Performance of the encapsulated surfacing material for other purposes is not within the scope of this practice. Use Test Methods E84 , E119 , and E605 to determine other properties of the material. 1.4 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard. The values given in parentheses are mathematical conversions to inch-pound units that are provided for information only and are not considered standard. 1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. 1.6 Warning Asbestos fibers are acknowledged carcinogens. Breathing asbestos fibers can result in disease of the lungs including asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. 2 Precautions in this standard practice should be taken to avoid creating and breathing airborne particles from materials known or suspected to contain asbestos. See 2.3 for regulatory requirements addressing asbestos. 1.7 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

Available for Subscriptions

ASTM D2752/D2752M-88(2019)

Standard Test Methods for Air Permeability of Asbestos Fibers

1.1 These test methods cover the measurement of the relative degree of openness or degree of fiberization of milled asbestos fiber by air permeability instruments. 1.2 Method A is the recommended procedure and describes a determination by means of the Rapid Surface Area apparatus. This test method is limited to fibers with an effective surface area in the range from 10 to 250 dm 2 /g [490 to 12 000 ft 2 /lb]. 1.3 Method B is an alternative procedure and covers the use of the Dyckerhoff apparatus. This test method is limited to fibers within the range from 10 to 600 Dyckerhoff seconds. 1.4 Only those asbestos specimens which are of similar specific gravities will bear strict comparison by these air permeability methods since differences in density result in specimens being tested under different conditions of porosity. 1.5 Samples containing excessive quantities of nonfibrous particles or contaminants will not give reliable or meaningful results. 1.6 The values stated in either SI units or inch-pound units are to be regarded separately as standard. The values stated in each system may not be exact equivalents; therefore, each system shall be used independently of the other. Combining values from the two systems may result in non-conformance with the standard. 1.7 Warning Breathing of asbestos dust is hazardous. Asbestos and asbestos products present demonstrated health risks for users and for those with whom they come into contact. In addition to other precautions, when working with asbestos-cement products, minimize the dust that results. For information on the safe use of chrysotile asbestos, refer to Safe Use of Chrysotile: A Manual on Preventive and Control Measures. 2 1.8 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. 1.9 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

Available for Subscriptions

ASTM C1121/C1121M-04(2015)

Standard Test Method for Turner and Newall (T and N) Wet-Length Classification of Asbestos

1.1 This test method covers the operation of the Turner and Newall (T and N) wet sieving classifier for asbestos, 2 and a procedure for the determination of fiber length distribution and fines (defined in Terminology D2946 ) content of milled asbestos fiber ( 74 m [200 mesh]) sieve described in Specification E11 . 1.2 For purposes of estimating length distribution, the test is limited to samples free from excessive quantities of non-fibrous particles or contaminants. Quantities exceeding 0.05 g retained in any given length fractions are considered excessive. 1.3 For comparisons between different fiber grades, only those specimens which have approximately the same degree of fiberization as determined by Test Methods D2752/D2752M will give completely meaningful results. 1.4 This test method is not applicable to ultrafine grades of asbestos powders which contain little or no fibers retained on a 74- m [200 mesh] sieve. This method is restricted to Quebec Standard 3 grades 4A to 7D inclusive as determined by Test Method D3639/D3639M .

Available for Subscriptions
ANSI Logo

As the voice of the U.S. standards and conformity assessment system, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) empowers its members and constituents to strengthen the U.S. marketplace position in the global economy while helping to assure the safety and health of consumers and the protection of the environment.

Useful Links
CUSTOMER SERVICE
NEW YORK OFFICE
ANSI HEADQUARTERS
2024 © American National Standards Institute (ANSI) All Rights Reserved.