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Ceiling Tiles

Ceiling tiles are frequently used in “drop” ceiling configurations in residential, commercial, and public buildings, where they provide insulation and sound deadening, as well as offering an enclosed space to run heating ductwork, electrical wires, plumbing pipes, and components of other mechanical systems. You may have heard these types of ceiling installations referred to as “acoustic” ceilings, since their design allows less noise to pass from one floor to another. Because they are relatively easier to repair than traditional ceilings, and because their individual panel design makes it easier to make repairs to the systems installed behind the panels, ceiling tiles have become extremely popular in schools, hospitals, and many office buildings

Ceiling tiles and asbestos

As design components, ceiling tiles have added an extra measure of convenience, as well as safety by being heat resistant and insulative. In many cases, their use has resulted in less cost to building owners, both in their construction and in the ease of maintaining the systems they conceal.

However, the cost of that added convenience and security has come at a price. Like many building materials that were used prior to the mid-1980s, most ceiling tiles contained large proportions of asbestos. The high level of heat resistance and insulating properties of the embedded asbestos fibers made these tiles highly impervious to fire and, as pristine ceiling tiles, the asbestos was inert and harmless. But over time, asbestos fibers break down and become brittle. As panels were removed time and again for repair or replacement of the tiles or the systems they contained, tiny, airborne particles of asbestos would enter the air, waiting to be inhaled by construction and maintenance workers, as well as office employees, hospital workers and patients, school children and teachers, and homeowners. Even drilling a hole into a stationery panel to add ductwork or a simple lighting fixture can cause release of these tiny, dust-like particles which, when inhaled, become lodged in the lungs and cause a host of health problems, including mesothelioma and other cancers.

Because of its prevalence, it’s a pretty safe bet that any ceiling tiles manufactured installed prior to the mid-1980s contains some level of asbestos. As a result, before removing or disturbing any tile, an expert should be consulted to determine if asbestos is present.

Last modified: December 09 2009.