Is Your Insulation Making You Ill?

Fine, NYDan was looking around the Internet a little while ago when he discovered an article about asbestos exposure on LawyersandSettlements. It got him thinking about the breathing problems he has developed and wondering if they could be related to the asbestos-containing zonolite insulation he used in his cellar over 13 years ago.

Zonolite was manufactured and marketed by the WR Grace Company as a convenient and effective insulating product that would help homeowners reduce their heating and air conditioning bills. It came in brown bags ready to pour into the space between walls and joists, in attics—pretty much anywhere insulation would be necessary. So, it was considered to be a win-win product—effective and easy to use.

That's why Dan used it. "I used it in all my cores in my block cellar," Dan said. "We must have used 100 bags or more. We poured it all in to the walls. And it wasn't cheap, but I thought let's spend the money and do it right."

But there is a problem with zonolite—a big problem. It contains a type of asbestos called vermiculite. In fact it's the primary ingredient in zonolite insulation. Much of the vermiculite used in the zonolite was mined in Libby, Montana, including the WR Grace zonolite insulating product. And here's the crux of the problem—the Libby, Montana vermiculite contains a rare and dangerous type of asbestos fiber called tremolite. Just the briefest of contact with this substance can potentially cause serious health problems down the road.

Interestingly, on October 30th, 2008, the Agency of Toxic Substances and Disease Registry released a report stating that employees and people living near to some 28 exfoliation sites could have been exposed to vermiculite mined in Libby between the 1920s and the early 1990s. Exfoliation is a process by which the vermiculite is heated until it expands. The health hazard is that in heating the vermiculate, it releases asbestos fibers into the air for everyone to inhale. The agency is recommending that anyone who believes they may have been exposed to the asbestos discuss the situation with their health care professional.

Dan, who is a volunteer fireman, has just had chest x-rays done. Not because of his shortness of breath, but as a work-related precaution. When he goes to get the results, he's going to ask his doctor about his exposure to asbestos from zonolite and its association with asbestosis and asbestos mesothelioma, a deadly type of cancer that affects the lungs of people exposed to asbestos.

"I'm 54. I've never smoked, never had any health problems," he said. "I've been a fire worker and construction worker all my life, so I'm pretty tough. But I have shortness of breath and breathing difficulties now. I was blaming it on the wood stove—but then I thought about the insulation. All the zonolite is downstairs in the cellar—but we have the furnace down there and there's a lot of air circulation from the cellar. You put a hole in the wall and this stuff just comes pouring out like water. And then the dust is in the air everywhere."

Unfortunately, the woodstove could also be a cause of asbestos exposure because it can be insulated with asbestos paper, mill board or cement sheets.

So how is a consumer supposed to know about the dangers of asbestos? The only way is to do your homework—the way Dan has. If you're thinking of doing your own insulation find out about the different types of asbestos—what their mineral names are—because those are the terms that will likely be used on the packaging. If you have zonolite insulation in your house don't disturb it or tamper with it in anyway. And talk to your healthcare professional because asbestosis and asbestos mesothelioma can take up to 30 years to manifest.