Guest guest Posted June 1, 2004 Report Share Posted June 1, 2004 Vermiculite is basically superheated clay, as I understand it. There was concern over one mine producing vermiculite in Montana (?) that was contaminated with asbestos, though. Don’t really know what happened there… A. Walsh MS, CIE -----Original Message----- From: Jeff Charlton Sent: Saturday, May 29, 2004 10:27 AM To: iequality Subject: asbestosis I heard some time ago that vermiculite was a form of asbestos as it was generally mined in the same vein as asbestos. I just saw a clinic specialising in vermiculite cancers. http://www.mirg.org/articles/art25.shtml In the Uk homes have until very recently had their cavity walls filled with vermiculite and many bonding or bulking plasters had it as a main constituent. What's the take on risk and hazard generally ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 1, 2004 Report Share Posted June 1, 2004 Group, thanks for thr input. Is the mine in Montana the only place where vermiculite is contaminated with asbestos? jeff Charlton -----Original Message-----From: Pat Walsh Sent: 01 June 2004 19:35To: iequality Subject: RE: asbestosis Vermiculite is basically superheated clay, as I understand it. There was concern over one mine producing vermiculite in Montana (?) that was contaminated with asbestos, though. Don’t really know what happened there… A. Walsh MS, CIE -----Original Message-----From: Jeff Charlton Sent: Saturday, May 29, 2004 10:27 AMTo: iequality Subject: asbestosis I heard some time ago that vermiculite was a form of asbestos as it wasgenerally mined in the same vein as asbestos.I just saw a clinic specialising in vermiculite cancers.http://www.mirg.org/articles/art25.shtmlIn the Uk homes have until very recently had their cavity walls filled withvermiculite and many bonding or bulking plasters had it as a mainconstituent.What's the take on risk and hazard generally ? FAIR USE NOTICE:This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 2, 2004 Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 No. As I understand it from my time studying at McCrone, all vermiculite is suspect of containing asbestos. My experience has been that, If there is asbestos present, it is usually tremolite or anthophyllite. Not many analysts have experience with these minerals since they are not the run of the mill – if you will - asbestos types (chrysotile or amosite). As was pointed out in an earlier post, most analysts underestimate the percentage of asbestos in a vermiculate sample since the results are supposed to be a percentage by weight, although there is no requirement to weigh the sample (go figure). At McCrone, they recommend that if you see asbestos in vermiculite, to double the amount that you think is present due to the extremely light weight of the vermiculite. Mark Doughty asbestosis I heard some time ago that vermiculite was a form of asbestos as it was generally mined in the same vein as asbestos. I just saw a clinic specialising in vermiculite cancers. http://www.mirg.org/articles/art25.shtml In the Uk homes have until very recently had their cavity walls filled with vermiculite and many bonding or bulking plasters had it as a main constituent. What's the take on risk and hazard generally ? FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 5, 2004 Report Share Posted June 5, 2004 Mark Doughty writes: My experience has been that, If there is asbestos present, it is usuallytremolite or anthophyllite. Not many analysts have experience withthese minerals since they are not the run of the mill – if you will -asbestos types (chrysotile or amosite). What a lot of people don't realize is that Libby vermiculite also may contain winchite and richterite, two minerals that are asbestos in everything but name (not being included in the EPA's original listing of regulated minerals). We always ask the lab to include them in the total count. It's also important not to rely on a single sample. We always submit at least three. The general advice to those who have vermiculite in an unused attic is to leave it alone. All well and good, but that still leaves open the question whether reversal of the normal stack effect can cause significant numbers of fibers to transported downward into the breathing space. Walls also interesting; opening and closing a door causes a bellows effect that in theory can pull fibers through ungasketed electrical outlets. More on all these aspects at the vermiculite page on our website ( http://tinyurl.com/3fj6x ). Jerrod Mason Protech Environmental Services Ann Arbor, MI www.protechenvironmental.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 5, 2004 Report Share Posted June 5, 2004 Mark Doughty writes: My experience has been that, If there is asbestos present, it is usuallytremolite or anthophyllite. Not many analysts have experience withthese minerals since they are not the run of the mill – if you will -asbestos types (chrysotile or amosite). What a lot of people don't realize is that Libby vermiculite also may contain winchite and richterite, two minerals that are asbestos in everything but name (not being included in the EPA's original listing of regulated minerals). We always ask the lab to include them in the total count. It's also important not to rely on a single sample. We always submit at least three. The general advice to those who have vermiculite in an unused attic is to leave it alone. All well and good, but that still leaves open the question whether reversal of the normal stack effect can cause significant numbers of fibers to transported downward into the breathing space. Walls also interesting; opening and closing a door causes a bellows effect that in theory can pull fibers through ungasketed electrical outlets. More on all these aspects at the vermiculite page on our website ( http://tinyurl.com/3fj6x ). Jerrod Mason Protech Environmental Services Ann Arbor, MI www.protechenvironmental.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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