_vermi_2.jpg)
See more
Is there asbestos in vermiculite for soil?
Vermiculite and gardening use An EPA study showed some vermiculite products contain low levels of asbestos. Asbestos is found primarily in the unmixed vermiculite product although some was found in pre-mixed potting soils. For consumers using vermiculite on an infrequent basis the health risk is low.
Is Garden vermiculite safe?
EPA's investigation (https://www.epa.gov/asbestos/protect-your-family-asbestos-contaminated-vermiculite-insulation) into these products indicates that consumers face only a minimal health risk from using vermiculite products at home or in their gardens.
How often does vermiculite contain asbestos?
Vermiculite is a naturally occurring mineral that is perfectly safe when pure. Unfortunately, an estimated 75 percent of it came from Libby, Montana, where it usually was contaminated with toxic amphibole asbestos.
What percentage of vermiculite insulation has asbestos?
The asbestos present in vermiculite is not bound up like it typically is in a building material and therefore the risk is potentially greater, even at percentages well below 1%. Unfortunately the 1% rule still predominates and often times a Qualitative result will not suffice no matter how much sense it makes.
Can you test vermiculite for asbestos?
While you can hire a trained professional to test your attic for asbestos, this may be expensive and, depending on the methods used, might give you erroneous results. We do not recommend that you open your walls to check for vermiculite.
Is vermiculite safe for vegetable garden?
Is Vermiculite Safe to Use in Organic Gardening? Vermiculite is a natural substance that is odorless, non-toxic, and does not deteriorate over time, making it an excellent choice for organic farming.
What happens if you breathe in asbestos once?
Once lodged in the lung tissue, these fibers can cause several serious diseases, including lung cancer, asbestosis (a scarring of the lung tissue) and mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the lung cavity).
How much exposure to asbestos will cause mesothelioma?
It often takes 20 to 50 years of harm before the first diagnosis. Mesothelioma cancer emanates from asbestos exposure. Approximately 2% to 10% of people with lengthy asbestos exposure will get pleural mesothelioma.
What should I do if I've been exposed to asbestos?
Consult a doctor Talk to your doctor if you think you've been exposed to asbestos. They can help you determine your risk of developing an asbestos-related disease. “The good news is that one-off, limited exposure to asbestos is typically harmless short and long term,” says Dr.
How do you know if vermiculite has asbestos?
How can I tell if my vermiculite insulation contains asbestos? The majority of all vermiculite insulation pro- duced before 1990 used contaminated vermicu- lite from Libby. Asbestos fibers in vermiculite are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Only a trained technician using a microscope can see asbestos fibers.
Is it safe to buy a house with vermiculite insulation?
The Fine “One Percent” Line As we touched upon, the EPA agrees that vermiculite insulation containing less than one percent of asbestos is safe to be used within a home. This sort of insulation typically comes in the form of Zonolite, a common form of insulation that appears as a pebble-like substance.
How do I know if my insulation has asbestos?
You can test the insulation for asbestos using an asbestos testing kit or by having a sample tested at an approved testing laboratory. If you discover that you do have insulation containing asbestos, you can leave it in place or have it removed by a local asbestos abatement company.
Is vermiculite toxic?
Vermiculite itself has not been shown to cause health issues. Based on available information, there is no evidence that dust from asbestos free vermiculite will cause any serious health effects. Nevertheless, as with any dust, workers should take precautions and avoid long, high-level exposures.
What are the disadvantages of vermiculite?
Disadvantages of Vermiculite: Stays too wet. Bacteria and fungus thrive in the moist environment, and negatively affect any plants grown in it. Vermiculite is often expensive and difficult to find. Unsustainable.
Is vermiculite environmentally friendly?
However, while, as you can see above, both perlite and vermiculite have benefits as soil amendments, neither is a sustainable choice. What is this? Both perlite and vermiculite are finite resources, not renewable ones.
Is perlite safe to use in a vegetable garden?
Perlite is allowed by the National Organic Standards Board, so it's safe to use in organic gardening. Perlite is a naturally-occurring substance that is free of toxic chemicals and provides valuable benefits to plants.
What is vermiculite made of?
Vermiculite is a naturally occurring sheet silicate mineral, usually formed by thehydrothermal alteration of mica minerals such as biotite and phlogopite (Harben andBates 1990, Brindley and Brown 1980). It ranges in size from microscopic particlesof clay mineral to lustrous brown sheets up to half a metre in diameter (MacEwan1948) although they are usually in the range of 1mm to 1cm diameter. Mostvermiculites when heated quickly to above about 230°C will lose their interlayer waterand this results in the flakes exfoliating to form concertina shaped particles.Because of its light weight and resistance to thermal decomposition this exfoliatedvermiculite is valuable as an insulation material and filler among many other uses.
What is asbestos used for?
Asbestos is the name given to the fibrous forms of a number of naturally occurringsilicate minerals that have been exploited commercially for their useful properties offlexibility, high tensile strength, incombustibility, low thermal conductivity, andresistance to chemical attack. The predominant commercial variety is chrysotile(white asbestos), one of the serpentine group of minerals, which constitutes morethan 95% of all asbestos that has ever been used.
What are amphibole minerals?
The amphibole minerals are a group of silicate minerals with a wide range ofchemical compositions but with the same fundamental crystal structure. Theelements silicon and oxygen in minerals are usually arranged into tetrahedral shapeswith the silicon atoms at the centre and oxygen atoms at each apex.
Can asbestos cause diseases?
All asbestos minerals have been found to be capable of causing serious diseases inhumans exposed to airborne dust containing them (Morgan and Seaton 1984).Those described below are the most important although there are other conditionswhich may also result from asbestos exposure.
Is vermiculite a mineral?
Vermiculite is normally a platey mineral in its natural state. Processing of the ore cansometimes lead to the peeling off or "scrolling" of the surface layers at the edges ofcrystals forming fibres (Chatfield and Lewis 1980). Parallel fracturing and splitting ofvermiculite flakes can also lead to the formation of fibre-shaped fragments.Vermiculite scrolls may be very fine (<0.1 µm diameter) but the vermiculite fragmentfibres tend to be fairly coarse (1-2 µm diameter) ribbon-like forms. While allvermiculites may be capable of producing fibres in these ways, the "fibrous"proportions of the bulk material are usually very small, of the order of a few parts permillion (by mass).
Is quartz a toxic mineral?
The risks to the health of persons exposed to other silicate minerals depend to someextent on the nature of the minerals themselves; some minerals such as quartz areknown to be toxic and capable of causing silicosis (pneumoconiosis) in moderatelyexposed workers, while others such as kaolinite are considered to be of low toxicityand only likely to cause disease in cases of very high exposure (Morgan and Seaton1984).
