Alert !

[Rich]

Sylvia posted a good message regarding how our drug stores are ripping us off on our meds.
Living here in the Detroit area this same reporter who is Steve Wilson of channel 7 news here has started a very important investigation all should be aware of.
It pertains to Vermiculite insulation.
This product is in millions of attics in this country.
In the small western town that manufactures this product many workers are dying from cancer related to this product.
The federal government is helping this town BUT the EPA has kept this secret from the rest of us......until now.
Steve Wilson went to Washington and challenged the head of the EPA. She was obviously very taken back by this and said they will inform this country of the dangers of this product but no federal help will be offered to homeowners.
Mind you this product has been in existence since the early 1900's.
So if you go up in your attic be careful!!

 

[pegne]

Rich

Rich

I saw a report on this on my local news here in Chicago. You are right, it is known to cause cancer. I remember when I was little we had this insulation in our attic. Our attic was made into two bedrooms so when I saw this report I paid attention. They did say that the risk of causing cancer was very, very low if the insulation was not disturbed.

 

[ALCapshaw]

Rich,

Please tell us how to RECOGNIZE or IDENTIFY this type of insulation.

What does it look like? I assume it is some sort of loose material.

'AL'

 

[Granbonny]

Rich

Rich

When I read your post the word Vermiculite jumped out at me..so asked Hubby where I had heard it before..he said that when they built our pool in the early 70's..that is what they mixed with concrete? to form the pool to lay the liner.He says it is loose and they blow it on.Wonder about the workers putting in pools back then? We lived out rural area and they became very popular..due to not having a place to take their kids to swim..Probably over a half of the county put them in..in early 70's.. Bonnie

 

[Rich]

Bonnie,
Hopefully that stuff in your pool is buried where it will never cause you a problem, I didn't realize they also used it for things like pools.
Al,
It has been described as resembling popcorn.
It was poured in or blown in.
The problem is it contains high amounts of a very dangerous form of asbestos.
Like Peggy said if it is not disturbed it is probably not going to cause a problem.
On the other hand for homeowners like myself who like to do a lot of their own remodeling,etc. it could be a potential hazard.
For a good overview go to www.detnow.com and look under investigations.
This is the web-site for the channel 7 news here in the Detroit area. It focuses on Michigan of course but this product can be found in thousands of homes in this country.
On a lighter note Bonnie I didn't know about pools because we don't have one. I don't go out in bathing suits because it might make the neighbors sick if they saw this old body

 

[Gail in Ca]

Well, there is one good thing about buying a fixer upper built in 1959-no insulation whatso ever!!
We have added it thru out the house, what a difference!
Gail

 

[wlaldridge]

Funny, vermiculite is used in soil you buy at KMart and other garden centers for planting and potting. It is placed under these gas fireplace logs to simulate ashes. Wonder why it is allowed if in fact, there is a big problem with it.

Asbestos is the real baddy, it was widely used for insulating attics and pipes. The effects of it are a long time coming but the dust keeps finding its way into the air in buildings that have it and it is not encapsulated.

I had a house in Iron Mountain, MI that was built in 1883 and of course got many renovations over the years. It was 3800 square feet two stories and full of pipes insulated with asbestos, an old boiler similarly insulated and of course the ceiling and walls the same. We raised three kids there one from infancy. I did every thing to remove or seal the asbestos up. This was around the time it was banned from use. It is the dust particles that you can't even see that cause a certain kind of cancer in the membrane between the lungs and the other organs. Usually only manifesting itself after 40 years or so.

I don't know about the vermeculite unless it is contaminated with some asbestos or asbestos products.

 

[Nancy]

Here's a link from The Vermiculite Association regarding safety. You can draw your own conclusions, knowing that it's a proprietary website.

http://www.vermiculite.org/hse.htm#5

 

[Ross]

I don't go out in bathing suits because it might make the neighbors sick if they saw this old body

Possibly, but I'm thinking more like it might get you a "on the spot" interview on Channel 7 news!

 

[Rich]

Good one Ross.
It might get me on the news but it most likely would be when they arrested me for indecent exposure.