Vermiculite and Glass Wool attic insulation
LCS Laboratory was asked a very important question, and we’d like to share the discussion with you:
Question: “I am planning to get a contractor to do some work in the attic for me and I would like to be able to show him that it is safe to work there. Is there a government website that I can go to that would state what percentages are considered safe? I can’t seem to find anything. A lot of the sites say that there is no safe level. I was wondering if these sites are sponsored by the companies that remove vermiculite. Any help you can give me would be appreciated. Thank you.”
LCS Answer: Hello, There are two similar but also conflicting concepts: legal limit and safe concentration.
“Legal limit” is a political statement used by a government. Therefore in different states and provinces those limits may vary. For example, in Ontario, Canada (2005-2021), the legal asbestos limit is defined in the Ontario Asbestos Regulation 278/05 at 0.5%. If a material contains 0.5% asbestos or more it is referred to as “Asbestos Containing Material” (ACM). The same law defines number of samples that you need to collect when you need to prove that the material is not ACM. If the material is not ACM, then there are no additional asbestos related, legal requirements for handling of this material.
“Safe concentration of asbestos” is a very different story. Safe or not, it all depends on what do you do with this material. For example: if your garage siding is made of a cement board with 30% of asbestos in it, you are safe as long as you do not drill or cut the siding. When you start removing the siding it becomes unsafe, because you can be exposed to asbestos fibers. Generally speaking, the less dust you are exposed to, the safer material is.
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