What does asbestos look like?

Asbestos can take on many different appearances, depending on the products it is found in. In acoustical and decorative finishes, asbestos fibers may appear in textured compounds like the once-popular “popcorn ceiling.” The asbestos-laden insulation, Zonolite, has a puffy, granulated appearance. Asbestos floor tiles were fixed to the floor with a black adhesive before the early 1980s and are 9 by 9 or 12 by 12 inches long. However, the vast majority of asbestos-containing materials are not so easy to identify.