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Photo-Guide to Identifying Vermiculite Building Insulation & Asbestos InspectAPedia®  -     How to recognize vermiculite building insulation that may contain asbestos Photographs of asbestos in building products

How to recognize vermiculite building insulation that may contain asbestos fibers. This document assists building buyers, owners or inspectors who need to identify asbestos materials (or probable-asbestos) in buildings by simple visual inspection. We provide photographs and descriptive text of asbestos insulation and other asbestos-containing products to permit identification of definite, probable, or possible asbestos materials in buildings.

While an expert lab test using polarized light microscopy may be needed to identify the specific type of asbestos fiber, or to identify the presence of asbestos in air or dust samples, many asbestos-containing building products not only are obvious and easy to recognize, but since there were not other look-alike products that were not asbestos, a visual identification of this material can be virtually a certainty in many cases.

Also see Asbestos HVAC Ducts a field identification guide to visual detection of asbestos in and on heating and cooling system ducts and flue vents. Also see Micro-Photographs of Dust from the World Trade Center collapse following the 9/11/01 attack. Links to U.S. government and other authoritative research and advice are included.
© Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

ASBESTOS FIBER-CONTAINING - Examples of materials that might contain asbestos fibers

VERMICULITE INSULATION - Vermiculite building insulation may contain asbestos

Depending on the mine from which this mineral-based insulation was obtained, it may contain asbestos fibers and could present a hazard in buildings, especially if disturbed during renovations. The U.S. EPA has photos of the original bags in which this product was shipped - you're not likely to see these bags in a home, though I've found them on occasion as you'll see in our photo above. Vermiculite insulation has an R-value of about 2.13 per inch in buildings. As we discuss at our notes on other loose-fill insulations such as mineral wool or cellulose, any building insulated with loose-fill or spray-in insulation may benefit from the ability of these loose materials to fill gaps and openings more uniformly than might be found if sloppy workers are careless about installing insulating batts. Drafty insulation installations can cause more heat loss than is made up for by differences in insulation R-values.

For more details about the inspection and detection of concerns with fiberglass building insulation, see:
INSULATION INSPECTION & IMPROVEMENT and   FIBERGLASS HAZARDS .

Our separate websites on Fiberglass building insulation and or series of articles about HVAC duct work defects contain in-depth discussion about possible air quality and health concerns which may be associated with exposure to fiberglass dust.To compare insulating material R-values of fiberglass in various forms as well as other insulating materials, see our Table of Properties of Insulating Materials

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ASBESTOS IDENTIFICATION IN BUILDINGS
Asbestos Risk Assessment
Asbestos in Good Condition
Asbestos in Poor Condition
Asbestos Removal, Amateur, Incomplete
Abandoned Pipe Insulation
Asbestos Foamed-Over
Asbestos in unusual places
Paper Duct Insulation Containing Asbestos
Carbon Nanotube Materials
Transite Pipe Chimneys & Flues
Asbestos HVAC Ducts
Asbestos Duct Vibration Dampers
Transite Pipe HVAC Ducts
Fireproofing containing Asbestos
ASBESTOS: Photo Guide to Materials / Products
Mold Growth Resistance of Foam Insulation
Ceiling Tiles Containing Asbestos
Floor Tiles Containing Asbestos
Vermiculite Insulation Containing Asbestos
Asbestos Under the Microscope

Insulation Material Identification Guide
Asbestos-Free Insulation Materials
  Asbestos Pipe Insulation
  Balsam Wool Batt Insulation
  Cotton Insulating Batts
  Cellulose loose fill insulation
  Concrete insulation, light-weight
  Fiberglass Insulation
  Foam Board Insulation
  Foam Insulation Types - Visual Id
  Homasote & Other Insulating Board
  Icynene Foam Spray Insulation
  Insects & Foam Insulation
  Mineral Wool - Rock Wool Insulation
  Mold in Fiberglass Insulation
  Mold in Foam Insulation
  Paper Duct Insulation
  Perlite Insulation
  POLYISOCYANURATE FOAM INSULATION
  POLYSTYRENE FOAM INSULATION
  Urea Formaldehyde Foam Insulation UFFI
  Vermiculite Insulation

• 3/07: thanks to Gary Randolph, Ounce of Prevention Home Inspection, LLC Buffalo, NY, for attentive reading and editing suggestions. Mr. Randolph can be reached in Buffalo, NY, at (716) 636-3865 or email: gary@ouncehome.com
• 06/07: thanks for photographs of transite asbestos heating ducts, courtesy of Thomas Hauswirth, Managing Member of Beacon Fine Home Inspections, LLC and (in 2007) Vice President, Connecticut Association of Home Inspectors Ph. 860-526-3355 Fax 860-526-2942 beaconinspections@sbcglobal.net

More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

• Asbestos: How to find and recognize asbestos in Buildings - visual inspection methods, list of common asbestos-containing materials
• Asbestos HVAC Ducts and Flues field identification photos and guide
• Fiberglass: Indoor Air Quality Investigations: Health Concerns About Airborne Fiberglass: Fiberglass in Indoor Air from HVAC ducts, and Building Insulation
• Enviro-Scare: Electric Power Lines, Electromagnetic Fields, Cancer Risk, & "Enviro-Scare" - The Normal Curve Cycle of Public Fear of Environmental Issues
• Dust from the World Trade Center collapse following the 9/11/01 attack: the lower floors of this building contained spray-on fire-proofing asbestos materials.
• Asbestos Information Links: Asbestos Detection, Testing, Recognition, Hazards, Field Photos, and Information Sources, including health-related links such as legal services and information about mesothelioma and other cancers.
• Asbestos Identification and Testing References
• Asbestos Identification, Walter C.McCrone, McCrone Research Institute, Chicago, IL.1987 ISBN 0-904962-11-3. Dr. McCrone literally "wrote the book" on asbestos identification procedures which formed the basis for current work by asbestos identification laboratories.
• Stanton, .F., et al., National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 506: 143-151
• Pott, F., Staub-Reinhalf Luft 38, 486-490 (1978) cited by McCrone

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