I'm still just a mess. Thank you all so much for your responses. It's funny, I'm not the least bit of a "germaphobe." I have several dogs and likely sleep with a least one dog butt in my face every night. Dust doesn't bother me nor do I lay awake at night worrying about bed bugs or the swine flu. But this got me. I feel like everything in the house is coated with asbestos. As I said, this small back den ajoins the kitchen and I figure all the dishes, items in the pantry, walls, everything is tainted. Toxic waste dump! Okay, rant over for the time being. Vinyl tiles are 9X9 size and there's absolutely no doubt that they are the asbestos kind...not in my mind anyway! Hubby whacked up about a 12X12 section of them before he got clued in. He then stopped so there are many tiles still down. Some tiles came up in tact, some were in pieces. He bagged the tiles and today he mopped down the whole area. He then spread this Ardex stuff I believe it's called on the floor to seal off the asbestos that is also in the black crap that they used to adhere the tiles. One bright note, he had just put these cut to fit hepa filter thingeys in our heating/ac vents. That's a bright note, right? Tomorrow he is going to try to wipe down as many surfaces as he can. How do you wipe every nook and freakin cranny? What else can we/I do.....seek out a therapist? Divorce court maybe? aggghhhhhh! Thanks for the hand holding, pup

seems like a lot of paranoia about tiles. Install vinyl over them. If they become disloged no asbestos is realeased. Its when you sand them or alter them is the danger. Picking them up doesnt't do anything.

hi my case: Son has an old house (1960). Most of house had dirty carpet when bought and had a flooring company replace carpet without looking under it. Now, years later decided to remove carpet. Under carpet were the 9x9 tiles. Most tiles were okay, but several were broken so took all tile out (they mainly popped up, but some broke and also did some scraping). Some dust was made, but could be from carpet and pad. Mopped floor after. Under tiles is the black cutback mastic, now uncovered. Area is about 200 sqft. Got rid of the tiles so cant be tested, but I assume to contain asbestos. Also removed carpet in a bedroom (10x10), which also has tiles underneath, but left the tiles in place and covered most of area with an area rug. Doubtful any protective masks were used, and certainly not by others living in the house at the time, as well as now. Questions: Is that level of exposure serious (been a few months since removed)? Are roommates at any risk? Can just walking on the exposed mastic release fibers? Should air get tested? What can be used to cover the cutback mastic? Wants to lay vinyl sheeting in the area (or anything else recommended?). Is it okay to re-lay carpet in the bedroom over the tiles? Should he/me be too concerned? Yes, it's done, but knowing risk level will help. Thanks

Since you can see the brand name and numbers on one of the tiles, I'd google those. There's also sites like this that try to help identify by patterns as well as manufacturer. https://inspectapedia.com/hazmat/DIY-Asbestos-Floor-Test.php