Living in Asbestos hell

Ok..

Last week I finally got around to testing some old, cracked floor tiles from our basement. Our house is circa 1966 so I was a bit concerned about potential asbestos in these tiles. Apparently some linoleum and other substances from that era contain asbestos. In reading up on this, I came across an article on asbestos in vermiculite based attic insulation. And then I recalled seeing some come floating down around my husband when he poked his head up into the attic one day last winter when we were having a leak in our ceiling. I looked up more information on this stuff, and lo and behold, confirmed - we have this stuff in our attic. Apparently there is a layer of the vermiculite underneath a second layer of blown-in rockwool or cellulose fibre insulation. Here's the dirt on the substance: (from the Health Canada website)

Vermiculite is a mica-like mineral mined around the world and used in a variety of commercial and consumer products because it is fire-resistant and has good insulation qualities. Of concern is vermiculite ore produced by the Libby Mine in Montana from the 1920's to 1990. It was sold as Zonolite® Attic Insulation and possibly other brands in Canada during that time. Vermiculite from the Libby Mine may contain amphibole asbestos. The Libby Mine supplied the majority of the world market in vermiculite-based insulation. Products made from vermiculite ore produced by the Libby Mine were not widely used after the mid-1980's and have not been on the market in Canada since 1990. Not all vermiculite produced before 1990 contains amphibole asbestos fibres. However, to be safe and in the absence of evidence to the contrary, it is reasonable to assume that if your building has older vermiculite-based insulation, it may contain some amphibole asbestos.

Although the overall percentages of amphibole asbestos in bulk vermiculite are very low, the airborne percentages can increase if the material is disturbed. Asbestos poses health risks only when fibres are present in the air that people breathe. If asbestos fibres are enclosed or tightly bound in a product, for example in asbestos siding or asbestos floor tiles, there are no significant health risks. How exposure to asbestos can affect you depends on:

The concentration of asbestos fibres in the air;
How long the exposure lasted;
How often you were exposed;
The size of the asbestos fibres inhaled; and
The amount of time since the initial exposure.

When inhaled in significant quantities, asbestos fibres can cause asbestosis (a scarring of the lungs which makes breathing difficult), mesothelioma (a rare cancer of the lining of the chest or abdominal cavity) and lung cancer. The link between exposure to asbestos and other types of cancers is less clear.

The best way to minimize your risk of amphibole asbestos exposure is to avoid disturbing vermiculite-based insulation in any way. If vermiculite-based insulation is contained and not exposed to the home or interior environment, it poses very little risk.

OK - although scary, if its enclosed in our attic, it doesn't sound too bad, right? EXCEPT for two things:

a) we recently found an open bag of the stuff in an open wall cavity containing the fuse box. If you open the door to the fuse box you can see the ripped open bag of the stuff dripping down in front of your face.

AND

b) we had significant disturbance of attic insulation last spring when we had a second light and a ceiling exhaust fan installed in our ensuite bathroom.

SO

We proceeded to get some samples taken from the front part of our attic. The samples were tested for asbestos, and fortunately, they were negative. According to all experts, based on the shape, size and colour of the vermiculite, and the fact that there was no asbestos detected, we should not worry.

However, I continue to worry. My logic is currently going like this:

1. How do we know that the composition of the vermiculite is consistent across the entire attic installation? How do we know that the composotion of the bagged vermiculite is the same as the stuff tested?

2. I have read an article that there sometimes no asbestos is detected in the vermiculite, but there can be very high levels of the fibres in the air surrounding the vermiculite if there is a disturbance.

The solution?

Not sure. I'm stuck in worry land again. I'm barely sleeping. I'd LOVE to have this stuff completely sucked out of the house, have air and dust samples taken for months afterward, and then maybe I'd be satisfied that my house was safe. But that would probably cost $30,000. That kind of money I dont have.

What to do.