I actually did quite a bit of research into vermiculite before I started using it. We use it in the yard (garden) a lot. Yes, there was a mine in Libby, Montana whose vermiculite deposit contained asbestos. That mine shut down in 1990. Vermiculite is a very effective fire proof material, and that mine supplied about 70% of the U.S.' insulation (of the insulation that used vermiculite, that is). There are mines in Virginia and North Carolina, but most of it comes from South Africa, Brazil, and China. All these sources are continually tested for asbestos, and they are not finding any.
Bottom line is, if you are buying new stuff, it is probably safe. If you are using vermiculite that you harvest from the insulation in your house, you're probably exposing yourself to asbestos. I also use vermiculite in my "ground goop" for the layout's scenery base; it adds that extra level of texture to the "ground". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermiculite http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/pubs/verm.html - Peter. On 07/22/2011 3:32 pm, [email protected] wrote: > Peter, > I'm neither a lawyer nor a doctor but I would suggest that when you're > screening vermiculite, you do it outside and stand upwind. Some of the older > vermiculite that was processed contained asbestos. Newer vermiculite is > supposed to be asbestos free - just like paint on children's toys from China > is supposed to be lead free. Even if the vermiculite is asbestos free, the > very fine powder won't do your lungs any great favors. > You have a very nice website and espouse a professional approach to your > modeling efforts. I'm glad you landed in S. > Mike > -- Peter Vanvliet ([email protected], or [email protected]) Houston, Texas "It is easy to give up; anyone can do that..." http://pmrr.org/ (my model railroad - RSS feed <http://pmrr.org/rss.xml>) http://fourthray.com/ (my company) http://houstonsgaugers.org/ (model railroad club) -- [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
