ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews past toxic building materials in order to manage the toxic dilemma as a whole-not only because they were used in the past, but they are still used today. The stew of toxic building materials–old and new, regulated and unregulated, and known and unknown–is coming to a boil. The older, regulated, and known building materials are also new, unregulated products in different formats. They are as follows: Asbestos and lead are environmentally regulated toxins with exemptions such as asbestos in vinyl floor tiles and lead roofing; Crystalline silica is an occupationally regulated toxin. Asbestos-containing building materials can be a double-edged sword. The newer building materials are composed of regulated and unregulated, known, and unknown components of building materials, most of which emit irritant and/or toxic gases. Commonly known building materials that off-gas formaldehyde are formaldehyde-bonded resin products such as urea–formaldehyde foam insulation (UFFI) and composite wood products.
