The early drafts cautioned that workers using vermiculite daily faced an increased risk of cancer from two additional cases for every 1,000 workers to one per 100 workers. We went down this road with EPA 20 years ago when they concealed and ignored risks to vermiculite workers, and their inspector general is investigating that absurdity. Now we've got it again. Dozens of factories make fire-resistant wall board and sheet rock using hundreds of tons of vermiculite. Every day at construction sites throughout the country thousands of workers mix bags of vermiculite with cement and plaster.
Raw vermiculite is poured and stomped down by workers installing liners for swimming pools.
OSHA has asked the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to evaluate worker exposure to asbestos in vermiculite in processing operations and other work sites. MSHA is evaluating exposure in vermiculite mines. What's more, it is not known if the problems associated with vermiculite from the former Libby mine in Montana are present in vermiculite found in other mines today, and this will be investigated. If they're in a union or other worker's organization, they can talk to the group's safety representatives. Workers may be using a batch of vermiculite that has absolutely no asbestos in it and tests clean.