Armstrong World Industries

Armstrong World Industries of Lancaster, Pennsylvania registered this ™ logo for use on products in Canada in 1950 although Armstrong products had been sold in Canada as early as 1928.

The Trademark office lists Armstrong products as:

• Adhesive in liquid and semiliquid form.
• Acoustical ceiling tiles made of wood fiber, mineral wool, glass wool, magnesia and hair felt.
• Linoleum, felt base, asphalt tile, rubber tile and plastic flooring.
• Tiles, panels, and/or sheets of various substances namely, wood fibre and mineral wool, vinyl composition tiles, vinyl sheet materials suitable for use in covering interior floors, ceilings, walls and the like.
• Acoustical and/or thermal insulation whether as sheet, tubular, as tiles, as panels, in blocks or some other shape or form.
• Adhesives for use in association with the foregoing.
• Isolation material for dampening vibration and sound, particularly that caused by moving machinery.

There is no mention of asbestos although it was a major component of many Armstrong products, particularly flooring, insulation and gasket material. Armstrong maintains that their ceiling tiles never contained asbestos.

The EXCELON™ line of products was registered in Canada 1954 and included asphalt asbestos tile, vinyl asbestos tile and vinyl sheet flooring. In 1972 Armstrong vinyl asbestos 12” x 12” floor tiles were available to the public nationwide at building supply stores for 15¢ to 19¢ each.

While Excelon™ floor tiles no longer contained asbestos after 1985, some Armstrong flooring adhesives contained asbestos until April 1987. Armstrong reports that their Canadian Manufactured (Montreal plant) flooring products were last produced with asbestos as follows:

Sheet Vinyl 1984

Commercial Tile 1985

Residential Tile 1985

These dates reflect the dates Armstrong last manufactured asbestos containing floor products, not the date of sale or installation.

Asbestos has never been banned in the USA despite widespread calls by the public for the mineral to be removed from use. Despite this, Armstrong moved more quickly to remove asbestos fill from the flooring products manufactured and sold in the United States. Armstrong indicates that no flooring materials manufactured in the United States contained asbestos after April, 1983.

Armstrong floor tiles continue to be in thousands of homes and businesses. Until they are disturbed they are not dangerous. If your home contains Armstrong tile of undetermined age, have them tested prior to removal and factor asbestos abatement into your renovation budget.

The Armstrong World Industries Asbestos Trust is a $2.1 billion fund established to compensate mesothelioma victims that worked with Armstrong products. Contact us if you would like information on how to put forward a claim.