Asbestos contamination of vermiculite.

Vermiculite Is Not Asbestos

The presence of asbestos-contaminated vermiculite attic insulation or other asbestos-containing materials in homes and the potential for living space contamination.

Asbestos-contaminated vermiculite attic insulation (VAI) produced from a mine near Libby, Montana, may be present in millions of homes along with other commercial asbestos-containing materials (ACM). The primary goal of the research described here was to develop and test procedures that would allow for the safe and effective weatherization of low-income homes with asbestos. The presence of asbe...

Radiographic abnormalities and exposure to asbestos-contaminated vermiculite in the community of Libby, Montana, USA.

Mining, handling, processing, and personal or commercial use of asbestos-contaminated vermiculite have led to widespread contamination of the Libby, Montana, area. We initiated a medical testing program in response to reports of respiratory illness in the community. The purpose of this analysis was to identify and quantify asbestos-related radiographic abnormalities among persons exposed to ver...

Radiographic Evidence of Nonoccupational Asbestos Exposure from Processing Libby Vermiculite in Minneapolis, Minnesota

BACKGROUND Community exposure to asbestos from contaminated vermiculite ore from Libby, Montana, occurred in many processing sites in the United States, including a densely populated urban residential neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. OBJECTIVE We examined exposed community residents who never worked at the plant or never lived with a plant worker for radiographic evidence of lung chang...

Amphibole-asbestos, Vermiculite Mining and Libby, Montana: What’s in a Name?

Introduction: Over the past year, tremoliteasbestos and vermiculite mining in Libby, Montana have gone from obscurity to the forefront of the national media. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer “broke” the story in November 1999 about the world’s largest vermiculite mine and the problems associated with its asbestos exposure. As the stories point out, several hundred miners, their families, and non-...