Non-Toxic Ceiling Tiles (Materials & Brands)

Ceiling tiles can be paper-based, made of felted mineral fiber, metal, wood, gypsum, or fiberglass.

Look out for formaldehyde glues, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) backings, flame retardants, and biocides.

Know that ceiling tiles made before 1981 likely contain asbestos. Consult a licensed contractor before removing these tiles.

I will review the best non-toxic types and brands of ceiling tiles available currently.

1. Metal Ceiling Tiles

Metal ceiling tiles come in flat, lay-in tiles that would fit into a standard drop ceiling. They can be used in place of a gypsum or mineral wool ceiling tile.

Metal is durable, generally has no offgassing of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), doesn’t require maintenance and comes in a variety of designs.

They come in aluminum, galvanized steel, or stainless steel. You should not have any offgassing from a brushed on polished metal or a powder coated metal. A painted finish could have some offgassing, depending on the paint. If it’s laminated onto another material then there are other materials to consider which could offgas. It could be laminated onto wood or an acoustic backing.

USG makes metal ceiling panels.

2. Gypsum Acoustical Ceiling Panels

Gypsum acoustical ceiling panels come in a variety of designs. They are made with a gypsum core which is either a natural or synthetic mineral. If you want to read more about Gypsum see the post on non-toxic drywall. They are backed with paper, fiberglass, or PVC/vinyl. Some variations may contain biocidal paints or antimicrobial solutions.

I would want to avoid PVC for most people that are highly sensitive and many sensitive folks will need to avoid fiberglass as well. Paper-backed is the best bet.

3. Mineral Fiber Acoustical Ceiling Panels

Mineral fiber acoustical ceiling panels are made from mineral fiber which is produced from blast furnace and rock slags and coke, lightweight fillers like perlite, recycled paper, and binder(s) like starch and/or latex. Other possible additives include flocculants, defoaming agents, and surfactants. It’s backed onto a fabric scrim or on a metal sheet and painted with a water-based acrylic-latex paint on both sides. Antimicrobials are usually used in the paint and in the product itself.

This is similar to mineral wool insulation, which you can read more about in the insulation post.

Rockfon ceiling tiles and panels are manufactured with stone wool and they provide samples. (Sensitive folks should order samples for sure.) They do have Health Product Declaration (HPD), I looked at the Sonar and Tropic, and they both use formaldehyde as the binder (just like mineral wool insulation). 

USG Astro Acoustical Panels are made with a mineral wool core, perlite, plaster of Paris, calcium carbonate and Kaolin are fillers. One binder is starch and two other parts to the binder are undisclosed (and could be formaldehyde, starch based or acrylic but it doesn’t look like it’s formaldehyde). Titanium dioxide is a pigment in the coating. (source) This one looks non-toxic and USG does provide samples as well.

USG Mars High-CAC Acoustical Ceiling Panels (“F” FISSURED BASIC, GLACIER BASIC, AND SANDRIFT ACOUSTICAL CEILING PANEL) are made with mineral wool fiber, corn starch, plaster of Paris, calcium carbonate, clay, boric acid, kaolin, titanium dioxide and one small percentage proprietary ingredient (source). I would rate this one as non-toxic.

4. Fiberglass Acoustical Panels

USG tends to make pretty clean products and a lot of their products are well liked by the chemically sensitive. They also offer samples of their products so be sure to test these out.

USG ECLIPSE, ECLIPSE HIGH NRC AND ECLIPSE ILLUSION & PEDESTALS ACOUSTICAL PANELS are made with a fiberglass core, kaolin clay, calcium carbonate, diatomaceous Earth, starch, stucco, titanium dioxide and a couple of undisclosed smaller ingredients. (source) Overall this looks like a low-toxin option to me.

Sealing in Offgassing from Ceiling Panels

You could also seal up any panel with shellac and then Annie Sloan Chalk Paint to get a very good seal of offgassing on any type that can receive paint. Shellac provides a good block of most VOCs.

Corinne Segura is a Building Biologist Practitioner with 8 years of experience helping others create healthy homes.

Source: https://pharosproject.net/common-products/2085507#contents-panel