Asbestos in Vermiculite

Even though vermiculite by itself is harmless, the deposit in Libby, Montana, just across the border from British Columbia, was naturally contaminated with tremolite… an extremely carcinogenic form of asbestos. The Libby mine was once the most important source of vermiculite in the world. But the mine has been closed since 1990. The site has been condemned. For decades mine workers were exposed to the asbestos dust, especially in the mill, where workers say they often worked in a cloudy haze of airborne particles. The mill spat out more than two tons of Asbestos everyday. Read more on this topic…