Consumer Product Safety Commission
CANCER HAZARD! CPSC Warns About Asbestos in Consumer
Products: Safety Alert
CPSC Document #5080
The Consumer Product Safety Commission warns consumers about the hazard of exposure to
consumer products containing asbestos. These products include:

Asbestos paper and millboard

Asbestos-cement sheet

Dry-mix asbestos furnace or boiler cement

Asbestos wood/coal stove door gaskets

Asbestos laboratory gloves and pads

Asbestos stove mats and iron rests

Central hot-air furnace duct connectors containing asbestos

Bulk asbestos fibers
Some of these products still are for sale or may be in consumers' homes. Handling these
products may release asbestos fibers; breathing asbestos fibers is known to cause cancer. The
risk of asbestos-related cancer may be substantially higher among smokers at the levels of
asbestos encountered in homes. If these products must be handled:

Wear a respirator approved for use with asbestos.

Do not dry sweep; use wet procedures for clean-up. Dispose of any residue or unused
material along with the clean-up materials in a manner that will not release airborne
fibers. To get information on how to dispose of asbestos, call the Environmental
Protection Agency (800-368-5888) and ask for your regional asbestos coordinator.

Do not use power operated or other tools to cut or drill because this can create respirable
dust levels.

Keep these products out of the reach of children.
The extent of current asbestos product labeling is limited. Except for products which are sold
unwrapped, such as millboard; and asbestos-cement sheet, all products are labeled with the
name of the manufacturer or distributor. Only asbestos paper and furnace cement are labeled as
containing asbestos. Non-asbestos substitutes for all asbestos products are widely available to
the public for household uses.
CPSC requires that the labeling requirements of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act apply to
asbestos products. Asbestos products not labeled according to these provisions will be
considered misbranded, and thus will be subject to enforcement action by the Commission.
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This document is in the public domain. It may be reproduced without change in part or whole by an individual or organization
without permission. If it is reproduced, however, the Commission would appreciate knowing how it is used. Write the U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission, Office of Information and Public Affairs, Washington, D.C. 20207 or send an e-mail to
info@cpsc.gov.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or
death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage
from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $700 billion annually. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers
and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard or can injure children. The CPSC's work to
ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals contributed significantly to the 30 percent decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the
past 30 years.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (800)
638-8270, or visit CPSC's web site at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at
CPSC's Web site at www.cpsc.gov.