Asbestos in vermiculite attic insulation.

Gailann Schrader · #1 07/28/08, 08:08 AM

I just heard about this. Yep. I have vermiculite in my attic that we have disturbed over and over and over again. We even have it falling into our bathroom daily due to a bathroom fan we installed. I plan to duct tape and plastic it off tonite.

I'm contacting the asbestos folks and an attorney that is part of the class-action suit. Asbestos causes mesothelioma (lung cancer caused by asbestos), cancers of the kidneys, gallbladder, etc.

Great. Add that to the list...

Site with a video of the dust cloud given off by disturbing the stuff:

http://www.vermiculiteatticinsulation.net/

Just an FYI for you folks out there.

cfabe · #2 07/28/08, 09:41 AM

Perhaps you should contact your doctor after you get off the phone with the lawyer. Personally I probably would have done it in the other order, but everyone has their own priorities.

What's involved with cleaning up the insulation? Is that what the class action suit is for? Sounds expensive. Can you seal it somehow to make it safe like other types of asbestos?

Gailann Schrader · #3 07/28/08, 10:29 AM

...not much I can do about it now...

...and Monday mornings with my doctor(s) are a nightmare to get through and get an appointment...

...one more day won't make much of a difference...

...and there's my son's asthma doctor, anyone who has worked on the house, etc.

nightmare, I tell ya, nightmare...

Katey · #4 07/28/08, 11:46 AM

Not all vermiculite contains asbestos. It depends where it was mined.

Old Vet · #5 07/28/08, 03:31 PM

Do you own or rent? IF you own you are responsible for any asbestos in your home. To get it removed is a hassle and expensive. It will cost you about 5 grand or more to get it removed and gotton rid of.

OkieDavid · #6 07/29/08, 06:34 AM

I've seen the class action suit. I personally figure everytime I see one of those, each claimant will get a $25.00 check in the mail and the atty gets a $25,000.00 check... Meso is a truely NASTY way to go... I've seen it. I've also NEVER seen it in anyone that didn't work in an occupational exposure of 40hr/week plus for greater than 15 years. My final prediction on the subject is that within 25 years we will see the same issues showing up as a result of pink fiberglass insulation. Not wanting to make light of your situation but I agree with you that this isn't something I'd lose sleep about until I find out; 1. Does my vermiculite contain asbestos and 2. What does my Doctor think my chest x-ray looks like?

fishhead · #7 07/29/08, 06:43 AM

I live in MN and my old house has vermiculite in the ceiling. They don't even bother to test for asbestos in the insulation anymore and just assume that it contains it. Mine has been dropping into the living quarters for decades. After finding out that it may have asbestos I sealed all the cracks with caulking.

When I spoke to the doctor about it he said he met the nations authority on it and the guy told him that if we had done nothing, instead of spending $$ billions ripping it out of buildings the entire US would have only seen 1 death per year from asbestos.

It's still something that needs to be corrected.

Thoughthound · #8 07/29/08, 08:03 AM

It is worth concern, but keep your head about you.

As said, not all vermiculite has asbestos. Secondly, breathing in the dust from moving a handful has the same risk as smoking a pack or two of cigarettes.

I'm not telling you not to be concerned, but you never hear about the hundreds of thousands of people who worked with asbestos every day during the 30s, 40s and 50s and never got cancer.

Asbestos exposure is nothing to take lightly, but lawyers and the media make a lot of money scaring people.

Have the insulation tested before disturbing any more, and complete whatever steps are necessary to mitigate, but don't obsess about exposure because it won't help.

Old Vet · #9 07/29/08, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thoughthound

It is worth concern, but keep your head about you.

As said, not all vermiculite has asbestos. Secondly, breathing in the dust from moving a handful has the same risk as smoking a pack or two of cigarettes.

I'm not telling you not to be concerned, but you never hear about the hundreds of thousands of people who worked with asbestos every day during the 30s, 40s and 50s and never got cancer.

Asbestos exposure is nothing to take lightly, but lawyers and the media make a lot of money scaring people.

Have the insulation tested before disturbing any more, and complete whatever steps are necessary to mitigate, but don't obsess about exposure because it won't help.

I worked with asbestos in the 60s and 70s I don't have cancer. They took a x-ray of my chest once each year to see if anything was their but it came back fine. Of the people that worked with me none of them had Mesiolomia(sp). I worked with 300 people.

silentcrow · #10 07/29/08, 11:07 AM

Wow. Now I know what the insulation in my grandpaps attic was! Along with the asbestos sided exterior and interior walls!

whocares · #11 07/29/08, 02:48 PM

I have a 5000 sq ft building that was filled with vermiculite insulation and I was scared when I found out, sent 20 samples to a lab it was cheap online, none of the samples had asbestos...

I was pleased, more than likely your does not either...

mnn2501 · #12 07/29/08, 03:45 PM

defination of a class action lawsuit: a way to make lawyers rich while the people with the problem get almost nothing.

Old Vet · #13 07/29/08, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mnn2501

defination of a class action lawsuit: a way to make lawyers rich while the people with the problem get almost nothing.

Yep I was part of a class action suit I got a $25 phone card. I didn't use it I don't make many long distance calls.

tiogacounty · #14 07/29/08, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mnn2501

defination of a class action lawsuit: a way to make lawyers rich while the people with the problem get almost nothing.

Speaking from experience, I can say that you are 100% correct. My father was exposed to asbestos while working in power plants in the 60s and 70s. He jumped through all the proper hoops to satisfy the courts, and retain his standing as a claimant against the big insulation companies. He did not do this out of greed, but because he had lung disease from his exposure. He died of cancer four years ago. You want to guess how much money he got from the class action suits? ...... absolutely nothing. Trial lawyers are the scum of our society, and this is just one of millions of examples. They settle for hundreds of millions, the victims get a few dollars to keep the whole process from being viewed as a total scam, the scum move on to their next score.

Nana2boys · #15 07/29/08, 06:16 PM

My dad died of asbestos related cancer as well as many of his co-workers. It went to trial and it was proven that the company that they worked for knew about the asbestos and hid the fact from the workers and did not provide them with the proper protection.

They won and collected the award. My dad and the seven other men in this suit stilled died, but at least they had their day in court. Yes the lawyers did get a large chunk of it.

Molly Mckee · #16 07/30/08, 01:16 PM

Goggle Libby, Montana and mesothelioma and read about what has happened there. I think most of the vermiculite used in the mid west came from the Libby mine.
This has been know for quite awhile and in most states it should have been disclosed by the seller. Molly

fishhead · #17 07/30/08, 03:39 PM

Coincidently last night there was a TV commercial saying that the deadline for being included in the class action suit is coming up soon and it gave a toll free number for more info. 877-465-4817

The phone recording made it sound like they would remove the insulation. I requested the packet. If possible I will have them remove it.

My mostly indoor dog died of lung cancer back in 2001 but I didn't think to ask the vet about asbestos exposure.

http://www.graceclaims.com/

Old Vet · #18 07/30/08, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gailann Schrader

I just heard about this. Yep. I have vermiculite in my attic that we have disturbed over and over and over again. We even have it falling into our bathroom daily due to a bathroom fan we installed. I plan to duct tape and plastic it off tonite.

I'm contacting the asbestos folks and an attorney that is part of the class-action suit. Asbestos causes mesothelioma (lung cancer caused by asbestos), cancers of the kidneys, gallbladder, etc.

Great. Add that to the list...

Site with a video of the dust cloud given off by disturbing the stuff:

http://www.vermiculiteatticinsulation.net/

Just an FYI for you folks out there.

I am sorry that you have cancer. Are you sure it came from asbestios do you smoke? Has it been diagionosed as mesothelioma. How long have you had this cancer?

Gailann Schrader · #19 07/31/08, 08:14 AM

I actually don't have cancer that I know of, nor my son, but I try to live "low" on the food processing chain. And then to realize that I've been exposing us to this other junk? Great.

I do have Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/Disorder so I have to be uber careful what I eat and such. The specialist says to not use Tylenol/acetomeniphen, or any drugs without consulting them. And never to drink (not a problem, Ace.) or I will go into cirrosis/liver failure and die earlier that what I have planned...

So this is just a "WELL CRAP!" on my list of things I didn't think to pay attention to. The woman that owned the house before us died of lung cancer... She was a smoker, but still. Makes you wonder.......