Thread: Greetings from Northwest Ohio

Hi all,
I work for an environmental testing, consulting and engineering firm in northwest Ohio. I stumbled into these forums by accident while doing some research.

While the majority of my work is in the industrial and commercial realms, 99% of what I do involves asbestos and/or mold in some way and translates quite easily to the residential world. I am eager to share what I can.

Feel free to ask me any questions if my intro is too vague.

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Hello and welcome to the forum! I am very pleased to meet you and glad to become a member of this community.

Hi George. Welcome aboard. Do you ever see vermiculite insulation up in your area?

Yep, vermiculite is pretty common around here. I'm lucky enough to not have it in my house, but my parents aren't so lucky

I have a question regarding vermiculite insulation. Many years ago we did a complete remodel and second story addition. The owner and contractor told us that the insulation was vermiculite after finding empty bags in the attic. Being new to remodeling I didn't think much of it. A few years later I heard that they used to mix it with asbestos for insulation. With the insulation(vermiculite) that was removed he used in his yard for planting. Were there other additives to this and are there health problems with vermiculite.

Scott Wright

...A few years later I heard that they used to mix it with asbestos for insulation. With the insulation(vermiculite) that was removed he used in his yard for planting. Were there other additives to this and are there health problems with vermiculite.

Asbestos was not used in vermiculite insulation on purpose and not all vermiculite has asbestos. If the vermiculite does contain asbestos it is most likely from the mine in Libbey Montana (owned by the W R Grace company). The mine was contaminated with an asbestos form called Tremolite. While its not the only mine in the world that is contaminated with asbestos, the Libbey mine supplied a strong majority of vermiculite insulation throughout the US.

Vermiculite by itself is is non-toxic but the asbestos contaminant is not so good for you.

Adding vermiculite to soil is a cheap way to make the soil hold more water. It works a bit like a sponge.

Hope that is close to what you were looking for