I recently purchased a home built in 1970, and decided to remove some
old carpet from the stairs to uncover the hardwood underneath. When I
removed the carpet and the carpet padding, there was a hard yellow
substance stuck to the stairs with a very thin white material on top of
it. I am assuming this is adhesive, but I am not sure. My question
is, can this contain asbestos? I want to remove it, and the material
is crumbling a bit and can be scrapped off, but I am hesitant in case
it might be hazardous in some way. Does anyone know if this is/could
be adhesive and if it might possibly contain asbestos?

Thanks!