Does Vinyl Sheet Flooring Contain. Phthalates are used to soften plastic and vinyl and make them more flexible. It is always safer to assume material manufactured before 1980 contains asbestos.
If it looks old it probably is however you must consider if the vinyl sheet flooring contains asbestos fibers if you plan on removing it. Most vinyl flooring contains chemicals called phthalates many of which have been banned from childrens products over concerns of negative health effects. This fiberglass layer allows sheet vinyl to be installed using double-sided adhesive tape instead of a difficult glue down installation.
Vinyl sheet goods are embedded with asbestos fibers to make them stronger and fire resistant that it is why we used asbestos fibers in so many materials.
On occasion old sheet flooring contains asbestos such as in an asphalt-impregnated paper backer or a white papery-backer later-floors. Layered construction and protective finish make it. Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring has two layers a top layer of vinyl and a bottom layer made from paper that contains asbestos. But its truevinyl flooring can also contain harmful VOCs and other chemicals.
