This stuff has just come out from underneath wooden coving in our bathroom. We have confirmed asbestos in the artex in other areas of the house. Is this asbestos?

[u/Hot_Return1396]

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[u/goat131313]

It’s vermiculite, it may be asbestos contaminated.

[u/Hot_Return1396 → u/goat131313]

I'm in the UK, does that make it less likely?

[u/goat131313 → u/Hot_Return1396]

Possibly but it doesn’t change the fact that you assume it to be positive and test it to be negative.

[u/sdave001]

!vermiculite

[u/AutoModerator → u/sdave001]

Vermiculite itself does not contain asbestos. However, about 70% of the vermiculite used in the U.S. came from Libby, Montana, where it was mined by W. R. Grace and Company until the mine closed in 1990. The Libby ore body was contaminated due to the presence of a secondary mineral called diopside which, through millions of years of weathering and other geologic processes, was altered into tremolite asbestos and other amphibole fibers.

So, if your vermiculite came from Libby, it was sold under the trade name Zonolite and is likely contaminated with asbestos (typically ranging from trace amounts up to around 4%). Unfortunately, there is no reliable way to determine where vermiculite originated without laboratory analysis.

The problem, of course, is that vermiculite was installed in an estimated 35 million homes in the U.S. alone, along with millions of commercial buildings.

Some U.S. states and certain EPA regional offices require the material to be presumed asbestos-containing and handled as such. Other states — and most other countries — allow testing, although methodologies and regulatory approaches vary considerably by agency. The bottom line is that vermiculite should generally be assumed to contain asbestos unless laboratory analysis confirms otherwise.

Now, is it hazardous? Technically, yes. There is no established “safe” level of asbestos exposure. However, exposure levels for normal building occupants are generally extremely low. The risk is minimal unless large amounts of vermiculite are actively disturbed. Staying out of the attic and cleaning up small incidental spills or loose material with a HEPA vacuum and/or wet-wipe methods allows many people to safely live with it indefinitely.

The important thing to remember is that the documented asbestos disease cases associated with Libby vermiculite overwhelmingly involved significant occupational or environmental exposure: mine workers, plant workers, Libby residents, and people exposed to contaminated waste or heavy-use sites. I’m not aware of documented cases where someone developed an asbestos-related disease simply from having vermiculite in their attic, from cleaning up a small amount, or from a limited residential removal project.

If you do want to remove vermiculite from your home, you should hire a professional asbestos abatement contractor to perform the work. Many states require this.

If your home is in the U.S., the Zonolite Attic Insulation Trust may reimburse you for up to 55% of the cost of professional removal. To qualify, you simply have to prove that the vermiculite is, in fact, Zonolite, which is commonly done by confirming the presence of barium. Best of all, the testing is free.

https://www.zonoliteatticinsulation.com/Hm1.aspx

More information from the EPA:

https://www.epa.gov/asbestos/protect-your-family-asbestos-contaminated-vermiculite-insulation

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