Asbestos doesn't have to be disclosed when selling a home.
Sorry to say, if you don't test it, you don't know, and if you don't know, YOU DON'T HAVE TO DISCLOSE IT.
And if you DO disclose it, good luck selling the house!
so, basically you get screwed for being honest.....but if you test it and DON'T disclose it, you are liable, and all that entails. When tested, there is a PAPER TRAIL.
Comercial property is differant....don't forget that.
CONSUMER PRODUCTS THAT CONTAIN ASBESTOS;
EVERYTHING....
Yep, that right, everything can, and could have Asbestos in it, and they DO NOT HAVE TO DISCLOSE THIS INFORMATION ON THE PACKAGEING! All the packaging has to say is something like - "Contains Fiberous Materials..." or something like that.
Heres a short list to start with;
Paint(yep, thats right, paint. Asbestos is used as a binder in paints. Remember, its fiberous!), wallboard/sheetrock, taping/topping compounds, floor-tiles, sheet-flooring, brake & cluth linnings (thats right, its still used there), mortor/concrete, MASTICS (this is a big one, it can be in everything from floor tile mastic, carpet mastic, cieling tile mastic, you name it-and color doesn't matter, its there), construction papers, roofing felts, etc. etc.
The most dangerous and most concentrated stuff is found on piping, boilers, etc. Its referred to as TSI or Thermal Systems Insulation. I've seen it as high as 95%, that was on boiler "rope" on a cast-iron sectional boiler. That same type of rope could be found around the door of older wood stoves, or some furnaces, but most of the newer stuff is glass or ceramic wool. A card-board looking stuff is exactly that, its a cardboard that has been coated in asbestos as a binder to help apply it by wrapping it around piping. Its referred to as "Aircell". Very nasty stuff. There is also a cement looking stuff used on piping and boilers that is referred to as "Mag". Its blocky and very brittle, what is referred to as "friable". That means you can crumble it with your hands. Also dangerous stuff, due to the higher concentracions of asbestos.
There is also Vermiculite.
Vermiculite is NOT an Asbestos, but it IS a "Natural Occuring Mineral" with Asbestos. When you mine one, you just get lucky and get the other. Asbestos will "settle" to the bottom, so if you want to take a sample of vermiculite to see if there is asbestos in it, take your sample at the bottom. Vermiculite is used in gardening potting soils, and insulation. There are towns where it was mined that have a "Trail of Death" where it was shipped by Train back east. Check out Libby Montana, folks still dying there from it, and the mine has been closed for years....
Another is Talcum Powder....don't powder your babies bottom with it anymore, its another "Natural Occuring Mineral" with Asbestos.
Ok guys, I've been long-winded enough on this topic, sorry for that, but I hope this helps at least a bit....