Tar paper manufactured before the mid-1980s may contain asbestos. Asbestos was a common additive in roofing felts, building papers, and similar products for decades because it made them more fire-resistant and durable. If your home was built or re-roofed before roughly 1985, there is a real chance the tar paper under your roof or siding contains asbestos fibers.
Why Asbestos Was Added to Tar Paper
Manufacturers mixed asbestos into tar paper and roofing felt because the mineral fibers strengthened the product, improved heat resistance, and slowed deterioration from weather exposure. The most commonly used type was chrysotile, a form of asbestos that could be blended into asphalt-saturated paper during production. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, asbestos use in roofing and siding materials declined rapidly starting in the early 1980s, meaning products made before that era are the ones most likely to contain it.
The concentration of asbestos varied by product. Some roofing felts contained relatively modest amounts, while felt backings used under sheet vinyl flooring contained anywhere from 40 to 75 percent chrysotile asbestos. Tar paper used in roofing applications typically fell on the lower end, but even small percentages are enough to classify a product as asbestos-containing. Federal regulations define any asphalt roofing product with more than 1 percent asbestos as asbestos-containing material.
You Can’t Identify It by Looking at It
There is no reliable way to tell whether tar paper contains asbestos just by examining it. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is clear on this point: asbestos can only be positively identified using a special type of microscope, not by color, texture, or age alone. Old tar paper with a slightly fibrous appearance might contain asbestos, or it might be made entirely of organic fibers like cotton or cellulose. Unless the product still carries a label listing its ingredients, visual inspection tells you nothing definitive.
If you need to know for certain, you’ll need to send a sample to an accredited laboratory. Labs use polarized light microscopy to detect and identify asbestos fibers in bulk material samples. Many environmental testing companies offer this service, and some local health departments can point you to approved labs. A small piece of the material, roughly the size of a credit card, is usually enough for analysis. Results typically come back within a few days to two weeks.
How Dangerous Is Asbestos in Tar Paper?
The risk depends almost entirely on whether the material is disturbed. OSHA classifies roofing felt as non-friable, meaning that when it’s intact, it generally does not release breathable fibers into the air. “Friable” materials are those you can crumble with hand pressure, which makes them far more likely to shed fibers. Tar paper that’s sitting undisturbed under shingles or behind siding poses very little risk to your health.
The danger increases dramatically when the material is sanded, sawed, torn, scraped, or otherwise broken apart. These actions can release microscopic asbestos fibers that stay airborne and can be inhaled deep into the lungs. This is why demolition, renovation, and re-roofing projects involving old tar paper are the primary concern. Even pulling up old roofing felt by hand can tear the material enough to release fibers, especially if it has become brittle with age.
What to Do During Renovation or Removal
If you’re planning a roofing or siding project on a pre-1985 home, the safest approach is to have the tar paper tested before you start tearing anything off. Knowing whether asbestos is present changes how the job should be handled.
OSHA has specific regulations for working with asbestos-containing roofing materials. The general requirements include using HEPA-filtered vacuums to collect dust and debris, using wet methods to keep fibers from becoming airborne, and disposing of waste in leak-tight containers. Roofing operations do get some modified procedures compared to interior asbestos work, but the core principle remains the same: minimize fiber release and protect anyone in the area from breathing contaminated air.
Many states require that a licensed asbestos abatement contractor handle the removal of confirmed asbestos-containing materials. Even in states where homeowners are legally permitted to remove asbestos from their own property, the disposal rules still apply. Asbestos waste cannot go in regular trash. It must be wetted, sealed in labeled bags or containers, and taken to a landfill that accepts asbestos-containing material. Your local waste management authority or state environmental agency can tell you where the nearest approved disposal site is.
Is Asbestos Still Used in Tar Paper Today?
Modern roofing felt and building paper sold in the United States is not manufactured with asbestos. The EPA issued a broad ban on most asbestos-containing products in 1989, though a 1991 court ruling rolled back parts of that ban. The products that remained banned, combined with industry shifts toward fiberglass and synthetic alternatives, effectively ended asbestos use in roofing felts. If you’re buying new tar paper or roofing underlayment from a hardware store today, it will not contain asbestos.
The concern is exclusively with older material already installed in buildings. Homes built or re-roofed between roughly the 1920s and early 1980s are the ones where asbestos-containing tar paper is most likely to be found. If your home was built after 1990, the odds of encountering asbestos in the roofing felt are essentially zero. Homes from the mid-to-late 1980s fall in a gray area where testing is the only way to be sure, since some manufacturers phased out asbestos earlier than others.
If You’re Leaving It in Place
For homeowners who aren’t planning renovations, asbestos-containing tar paper that’s in good condition and left undisturbed is considered low risk. It doesn’t off-gas fibers the way friable insulation can. As long as it stays intact under your shingles or siding, it functions the same as any other building paper. The practical takeaway: don’t panic about old tar paper you can’t even see, but do get it tested before any project that would disturb it.