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This document provides information about fiberglass hazards and fiberglass insulation contamination issues in residential and light-commercial buildings. © 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.

How to Identify or Recognize Fiberglass Insulation in Buildings

The fiberglass research literature is replete with studies indicating that there are no health hazards associated with airborne fiberglass particles, and with other studies reaching quite the opposite conclusion. We recommend that readers examine carefully the methodology used in such studies, the expertise of the researchers, and the sources financing of such work.

Based on literature review as well as both field and laboratory experience, it is reasonable to claim that large particles of fiberglass are far more likely to be a respiratory or skin irritant than a carcinogen or other more serious health hazard. However some of our field and lab inspections detect very small, even sub-micron sized particles which are traced to building insulation. These much smaller particles may indeed be a health hazard, and may be entirely omitted or simply missed by some laboratories charged with reporting on the level of fiberglass in building air or dust.

Here we discuss the recognition of types of fiberglass insulation in buildings, other fiberglass particle sources, and some possible health concerns that involve these materials.

What does fiberglass building insulation look like & what are the colors of fiberglass insulation?

Fiberglass building insulation is commonly installed in batts or chopped forms and may be yellow, pink, green, or white in color as is shown in these four photographs. While this material is not and should not be confused with asbestos nor with the well-studied health hazards associated with exposure to asbestos fibers or dust, our separate article on Airborne Fiberglass Building Insulation Hazards and HVAC duct work insulation hazards contains additional discussion about possible air quality and health concerns which may be associated with exposure to fiberglass dust.

Where else do we find fiberglass in buildings besides floor, wall and attic insulation?

Fiberglass duct insulation material appears in several forms in heating and air conditioning systems in both ducts and air handlers themselves.

The most common uses of fiberglass insulating material in HVAC systems includes the cases listed below.

The annotated duct system photographs shown in the article cited below will permit any careful observer to identify the most common types of fiberglass HVAC duct materials.

We provide these (C)-protected photographs of fiberglass insulated ducts and HVAC components to aid in recognition of these materials.

Our detailed article on how to recognize fiberglass duct insulation and its characteristics and hazards can be read in its entirety at Recognizing Fiberglass Duct Insulation.

What are the Problems with Identifying Fiberglass Hazards in Buildings?

Special challenges face consumers requesting lab services for identification of fiberglass fragments in air, dust, or material samples are easily identified in the forensic laboratory using light and polarized light microscopy and common slide preparation techniques.

The common errors which result in failing to detect small fiberglass particles in building air and dust are discussed in detail at Lab Identification of Fiberglass

In that article we also discuss techniques which permit the forensic microscopy lab to identify the source or reservoir of particular fiberglass fragments in a building, sorting out among many possible fiber sources to pinpoint the particular problem such as damaged building insulation, damaged HVAC duct work, or other particle sources.

Finally, we discuss how to distinguish among types of insulating and other fibers, comparing various types of fiberglass insulation, mineral wool insulation, asbestos insulation, and other fibers.

Frequent presence of fiberglass fragments in air and some dust samples, suggests that an HVAC duct system or exposed fiberglass insulation in the building may be contributing unwanted and potentially unsafe levels of these fibers. This discussion can be read in its entirety at Fiberglass Detection in Building Air

We have also detected high levels of problematic mold in fiberglass building insulation where other mold reservoirs were either not present or had been previously removed.

This article can be read in its entirety at Mold in Fiberglass Insulation

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DUCT SYSTEM DEFECTS
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS - INSPECT, TEST, REMEDY
FIBERGLASS HAZARDS
  Recognizing Fiberglass Insulation
  Recognizing Fiberglass Duct Insulation
  Lab Identification of Fiberglass
  Fiberglass Fragment Hazards
  Fiberglass Detection in Building Air
  Mold in Fiberglass Insulation
  Mold in Foam Insulation
  Moldy insulation may look clean
  Why does mold grow in fiberglass?
  When to test insulation for mold
  How to Test for Mold in Insulation
  Fiberglass Hazard References

INSULATION INSPECTION & IMPROVEMENT

• "Glass Wool Fibers Expert Panel Report, Part B - Recommendation for Listing Status for Glass Wool Fibers and Scientific Justification for the Recommendation", The Report on Carcinogens (RoC) expert panel for glass wool fibers exposures met at the Sheraton Chapel Hill Hotel, Chapel Hill, North Carolina on June 9-10, 2009, to peer review the draft background document on glass wool fibers exposures and make a recommendation for listing status in the 12th Edition of the RoC. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is one of the National Institutes of Health within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The National Toxicology Program is headquartered on the NIEHS campus in Research Triangle Park, NC.

  Following a discussion of the body of knowledge, the expert panel reviewed the RoC listing criteria and made its recommendation. The expert panel recommended by a vote of 8 yes/0 no that glass wool fibers, with the exception of special fibers of concern (characterized physically below), should not be classified either as known to be a human carcinogen or reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen. The expert panel also recommended by a vote of 7 yes/0 no/1 abstention, based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in well-conducted animal inhalation studies, that special-purpose glass fibers with the physical characteristics as follows longer, thinner, less soluble fibers (for 1 example, > 15 μm length with a kdis of < 100 ng/cm2/h) are reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen for the listing status in the RoC. The major considerations discussed that led the panel to its recommendation include the observations of tumors in multiple species of animals (rats and hamsters). Both inhalation and intraperitoneal routes of exposure produced tumors, although inhalation was considered more relevant for humans.

• World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer - IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans - VOL 81 Man-Made Vitreous Fibers, 2002, IARCPress, Lyon France, pi-ii-cover-isbn.qxd 06/12/02 14:15 Page i - World Health Organization, 1/21/1998. - Fiberglass insulation is an example of what IARC refers to as man made vitreous fiber - inorganic fibers made primarily from glass, rock, minerals, slag, and processed inorganic oxides. This article provides enormous detail about fiberglass and other vitreous fibers, and includes fiberglass exposure data.
• http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol81/mono81.pdf - the article (large PDF over 6MB)
  http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol81/mono81-6A.pdf - article details
  http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol81/mono81-6C.pdf - studies of cancer in experimental animals in re vitreous fibers such as fiberglass;
  http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol81/mono81-6E.pdf - summary of data reported & evaluation
  http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol81/mono81-6F.pdf for the article references
  To search the IARC monographs on various environmental concerns and carcinogens, use http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/PDFs/index.php

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More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

For more information about fiberglass as an indoor air quality concern see:

• BASEMENT MOLD includes examples of moldy fiberglass insulation found in basements
• CRAWLSPACE MOLD includes additional examples of moldy fiberglass insulation found in crawl spaces
• FIBERGLASS HAZARDS includes the subtopics listed just below
    Recognizing Fiberglass Insulation
    Recognizing Fiberglass Duct Insulation
    Lab Identification of Fiberglass
    Fiberglass Fragment Hazards
    Fiberglass Detection in Building Air
    Mold in Fiberglass Insulation
    Mold in Foam Insulation
    Moldy insulation may look clean
    Why does mold grow in fiberglass?
    When to test insulation for mold
    How to Test for Mold in Insulation
    Fiberglass Hazard References
  
  
• Insulation Identification Photographs - Fiberglass insulation photos, yellow, pink, green, white fiberglass identification in building attics, walls, ducts, other locations
• Insulation Identification Photographs - Cellulose insulation photos, Mineral wool insulation photos, rock wool insulation photos, cotton insulation photos, balsam wool insulation photos
• Insulation Identification Photographs - Vermiculite insulation photos
• Fiberglass in Indoor Air, HVAC Ducts, and Building Insulation
• Fiberglass Particle Identification in the Fiberglass Test Laboratory
• Goodman Gray Flex Duct Deterioration and Failures
• Mold in Fiberglass Insulation
• Optimum Indoor Air Filters
• Owens Corning Flex Duct Deterioration and Failures
• World Trade Center Dust Particle Identification

INSULATION INSPECTION & IMPROVEMENT

For more information about asbestos as an indoor air quality concern with focus on easy ways to identify asbestos materials in buildings, see:

• Asbestos Identification in Buildings: How to find & identify asbestos-containing materials
• Asbestos in Good Condition
• Asbestos HVAC Ducts - Asbestos Materials On or In Heating and Cooling Duct Work
• Asbestos paper duct wrap
• Asbestos Transite Chimneys, Flues, & Pipes in Buildings
• Asbestos under the microscope
• Asbestos Vibration Dampers & Asbestos in the Air Handler
• Ceiling tiles: How to recognize ceiling tiles that may contain asbestos
• Examples of unusual uses of asbestos in buildings

Additional references on fiberglass in buildings

• Fiberglass in Indoor Air, HVAC ducts, and Building Insulation, Indoor Air Quality Investigations: (this article)
• Mold in Fiberglass, when, why, and how fiberglass becomes a reservoir of problem mold in buildings.
• Lab Identification of Fiberglass photographs and text assist in laboratory identification of fiberglass fibers and fragments in air, dust, or material samples in the laboratory using forensic microscopic techniques.
• Asbestos: How to find and recognize asbestos in buildings - visual inspection methods, list of common asbestos-containing materials
• Fiberglass References - Government Agencies & Authorities list of public documents on fiberglass

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