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LiberalEsto

(22,845 posts)
8. Vermiculite can be contaminated with asbestos, especially pre-1990s vermiculite
Sun Jun 30, 2013, 08:45 AM
Jun 2013
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermiculite#Asbestos_contamination

"Although not all vermiculite contains asbestos, some products were made with vermiculite that contained asbestos until the early 1990s. Vermiculite mines throughout the world are now regularly tested for it and are supposed to sell products that contain no asbestos. The former vermiculite mine in Libby, Montana, did have tremolite asbestos as well as winchite and richterite (both fibrous amphiboles) — in fact, it was formed underground through essentially the same geologic processes as the contaminants. A vermiculite mine in Virginia has also been found to be contaminated by asbestos.[broken citation][4]" (my boldface)

I'd be extremely careful about scraping it. Wear heavy-duty breathing equipment, eye protection, skin protection. Use air cleaning equipment, cut the room off with plastic sheeting and duct tape in doorways. Wet the stuff down thoroughly before scraping.

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