AGRICULTURAL

Animal feed
Anti-caking material
Bulking agent
Fertilizer
Pesticide
Seed encapsulant
Soil conditioner
CONSTRUCTION
Acoustic finishes
Air setting binder
Board
Fire protection (internal/external)
Floor & roof screeds (lightweight Insulating concrete)
Gypsum plaster
Loft insulation
Sound deadening compounds
HORTICULTURAL
Blocking mixes
Hydroponics
Micro-propagation
Potting mixes
Rooting cuttings
Seed germination
Seedling wedgemix
Sowing composts
Twin scaling bulbs
INDUSTRIAL
Absorbent packing
Brake pads & brake shoes
Castables
Dispersions
Drilling muds
Filtration
Fireproof safes
Fixation of hazardous material
Furnaces
Insulation blocks & shapes
Insulation - high & low temperature
Molten metal insulation
Moulded products
Nuclear waste disposal
Paints
Perfume absorbent
Sealants

Below are some examples of typical binders and other materials which are often used in
combination with vermiculite:
Portland cement
Resins
High alumina cement
Sodium silicate
Peat
Plaster (gypsum)
Clay
Potassium silicate
Fertilizers
Bark

Consider vermiculite if you are looking for:

Loosefill
Carriers
Lightweight aggregates
Soil conditioners
Asbestos substitutes
Density modifiers
Absorbents
Fire protection
Industrial heat insulation

SAFETY, STORAGE AND HANDLING

Information on safe handling, storage, personal protection, health, and environmental

considerations has been gathered on this product and is available from the material
suppliers upon request. It is recommended that all users and specifiers acquaint
themselves with this information.

We hope the information given here will be helpful. It is based on data and knowledge
considered to be true and accurate and is offered for the user's consideration,
investigation and verification but we do not warrant the results to be obtained. No
statement, recommendation or suggestion is intended for any use which would infringe
any patent or copyright.
Thank you for visiting The Vermiculite Association (TVA) web site. Vermiculite is one
of the safest, most unique minerals in the entire world. A hydrated Magnesium
Aluminum Silicate, it is lightweight, inorganic (incombustible), compressible, highly
absorbent, non-reactive (yet compatible in many chemical compositions as a functional
filler), may have a high cation exchange capacity (surface chemistry may be modified),
and is available locally and globally.

Vermiculite is used in thousands of applications from potting soils, light weight

concrete, fire protection construction materials, intumescent applications, as a UN
approved packaging material for the safe shipment of hazardous liquids, texturizers in
paints and coatings, and most recently as nanocomposites for films, coatings and barrier
applications.

Founded in 1948 "to promote the knowledge and use of vermiculite around the world",
The Vermiculite Association provides a forum for the exchange of technical, trade, and
"best practices" for both producers and consumers of vermiculite products on a global
basis. TVA covers over 80% of the worldwide producers of vermiculite products in 16
countries.

This web site is designed to assist you to become familiar with the various forms of
vermiculite (concentrates, exfoliated vermiculite, and chemically modified vermiculite),
the companies that supply vermiculite products, and the various uses of vermiculite. Our
members are experts in vermiculite applications and can provide you professional,
personalized service with your specific application requirements. In many cases our
individual members will have their own web sites, which are linked to this site. I
encourage you to spend some time visiting these sites and contacting our members. If
you have a general question, please send this site an e-mail and receive a response back
from our members.

A further resource for you, is our section on Health, Safety and Environmental aspects
of vermiculite. Vermiculite is a GRAS (generally recognized as safe) mineral, and is
approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for use as a carrier of
animal feed supplements and nutrients.

Finally, I would invite you to consider joining The Vermiculite Association. Our
professional organization meets twice per year in various locations around the world,
providing a valuable introduction and exchange of technical and Best Practices
information about vermiculite production, processing and usage. In addition, as a
member you have unlimited access to our exclusive Members Only portion of our web
site, which contains over 50 years worth of technical information, as well as timely
discussions on current topics, and a directory of sales leads that come through our web
site.

Vermiculite has been safely and effectively providing unique solutions to dozens of
industries from horticulture to nanocomposites for over 80 years. We welcome you to
explore this unique mineral

Vermiculite -
Health, Safety and Environmental Aspects

Introduction to Vermiculite and Environmental Aspects

Vermiculite and Health Aspects Associated with Potential Contaminants

Crystalline Silica

Control Measures and Personal Protective Equipment

Vermiculite is Not Asbestos

Review of: Sampling and Analysis of Consumer Garden Products That Contain
Vermiculite (EPA 744-R-00-010, August, 2000)

Statement by The Vermiculite Association on the Recently Released Government

Studies of Vermiculite and the Potential Asbestos Exposure (May 2005)

Introduction to Vermiculite and Environmental Aspects

Vermiculite is a member of the phyllosilicate mineral group and is micaceous in nature.

It is found in many parts of the world but only a limited number of sources are worked
as commercial deposits. The vermiculite is mined and refined using a variety of
techniques and supplied commercially in a range of particle size grades of vermiculite
concentrate (unexpanded).

Vermiculite is most commonly used in its exfoliated (expanded) form. The exfoliated
vermiculite is lightweight (low bulk density), absorbent, non-combustible, and an
excellent insulator that has proven useful in many environmentally beneficial and public
safety related applications including:
1. Fire protection to improve the safety of commercial and residential construction.
2. Fire rated door assemblies and wallboards (both gypsum and vermiculite based).
3. Growing media and soil amendments for fruits, vegetables, and many flowers.
4. Insulating media in home construction that reduces energy consumption and costs.
5. Lightweight concrete to improve insulation and increase noise absorption.
6. Animal feedstuffs to preserve integrity of feed and promote the health of livestock.
7. Bio-remediation aid to clean contaminated soils and sites.
8. Packaging aid for the safe transport of many kinds of materials, including spill
containment of liquids.

Other forms of vermiculite include finely ground and liquid dispersions, each of which
utilize vermiculite's high aspect ratio platelets to produce unique end use applications.

Providing the vermiculite is used and handled in accordance with the suppliers'
recommendations, it can be used in a safe and environmentally friendly way. As with all
other materials it is important to adopt normal good working practices and to comply
with local and national regulatory requirements. Requirements do vary on a country by
country basis and it is advisable that local agencies be contacted regarding specific
requirements.

The following notes are intended to provide guidance on some particular aspects
relevant to health, safety, and environmental matters. Additional data on specific
products may be available from producers.

Vermiculite and Health Aspects Associated with Potential Contaminants

Vermiculite is a naturally occurring, mica-type mineral that has been used beneficially
in numerous industrial applications since the late 1940's. It has been demonstrated as
being safe to use, and no serious health risks have been found resulting from exposure
to vermiculite.

Vermiculite and other ore bodies can contain a variety of associated minerals such as
mica, quartz, feldspar, etc. The associated minerals are unique to a particular deposit
and, in some cases, may include minerals which could pose a health risk if present in
significant quantities. In most countries, manufacturers are required to publish and make
available Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS). These sheets will typically identify any
hazards associated with the material and also provide information on safe handling and
proper disposal.

Asbestos fibres are a potential risk to health, and in the past there has been some
vermiculites contaminated with trace amounts of asbestiform material. Vermiculite ore
bodies currently in use by the major producers, do not pose a health risk when used in
accordance with the manufacturer's MSDS. However, there are numerous sources of
commercial vermiculite available in the world today and it is important for the end user
to understand test data from a particular manufacturer.
Such testing should take into account both mineralogical and morphological differences
between asbestos and non-asbestos varieties of the same amphibole or serpentine
mineral.

Finally, it is important to note that the issue of potential for fibrous asbestos
contamination exists for a wide range of naturally occurring materials. Included in this
list are materials such as sand, clay, and gypsum. Due to this, and other studies
referencing background levels of asbestos in the environment, it is inappropriate to state
that any naturally occurring material is asbestos free. Any reference to trace asbestos
levels must include (as a minimum): analysis technique, detection limit, and definition
of asbestos used in the study.

Crystalline Silica

Vermiculite, in ore concentrate and exfoliated state, may contain small quantities of
crystalline silica, as quartz. This is usually only present as non-respirable particles but
mechanical action such as milling may reduce any quartz that may be present to a
respirable particle size.

Silica is a very abundant material in a variety of forms and accounts for approximately
20% of the earth's crust with 95% being quartz. It is present in nearly all mining
operations, and as an extremely common mineral has been the subject of many detailed
studies, summarized in the Crystalline Silica Primer published by the US Bureau of
Mines.

Trace amounts of free silica are often found in silicate minerals while materials such as
sand and gravel consist mainly of free silica.

It has been known for centuries that prolonged and excessive exposure to high
concentrations of respirable free silica in dust can cause a related lung disease of
occupational origin, silicosis. This is a non-cancerous, but extremely serious lung
disease. Recent attention has focused on a relationship between silica and lung cancer.
Confounding factors in human studies and flaws in animal studies have not given rise to
conclusive evidence, however the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
have now classified crystalline silica as a carcinogen.

Some countries will even require any material containing more than 0.1% crystalline
silica to be labelled as a carcinogen.

Control Measures and Personal Protective Equipment

Like all materials, vermiculite can be subject to control measures with regard to its
handling, use in processing, transportation, end use and possible disposal. Since local
and national requirements vary from country to country it is not possible to deal with
them individually in this brief note, and users should check for any statutory
requirements.

As with numerous finely divided particulate materials, inert or nuisance dust may be
released during handling of vermiculite. Other commercially important materials with
similar dusting characteristics include sugar, grain, cement, and sand. Symptoms
associated with inhalation exposure to airborne dust may include coughing, sneezing,
and minor upper respiratory irritation. Inhalation over long periods of substantial
amounts of any inert dust can overload the lung clearance mechanism, making the lungs
more vulnerable to respiratory disease. Skin and eye contact may also cause minor
physical or mechanical irritation.

It is important that dust control measures be instituted to ensure that airborne dust levels
are kept below regulatory limits if they exist. In general dust concentrations of above
10mg/m³ total inhalable and 5mg/m³ respirable are considered a risk to health. While
these levels could be reached in commercial operations they are unlikely to exist in
domestic use.

In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), has
established a Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) which is the maximum amount of
airborne crystalline silica that an employee may be exposed to during a working shift.
Other countries may have similar limits.

Dust control measures should be used in preference to Personal Protective Equipment

(PPE) where ever possible. If control measures can not be instituted the following PPE
is recommended;
1. dust respirator to protect against inhalation exposure.
2. safety glasses with side shields or safety goggles to prevent mechanical or physical
eye irritation.

It should be noted that most suppliers regard the use of PPE as part of good hygiene
practice regardless of regulatory exposure limits.
Our brochure, "Vermiculite - Health, Safety and Environmental Aspects", is available as
a pdf format file from our Papers section.

Vermiculite is Not Asbestos

There are no real causes for concern about health risks from vermiculite: a review of the
mineralogy of vermiculite and its fundamental differences to asbestos explains why.

Summary
Vermiculite is a sheet silicate mineral that is found as flaky crystals; it is not a fibrous
mineral like asbestos. Fibres of vermiculite can be formed by breakage of the flakes or
by curling of the edges of the flakes. Such mineral fibres do not constitute asbestos, and
fibrous shape does not, by itself, mean that they will behave like asbestos.

Vermiculite dusts, including these fibrous fragment forms, have demonstrated very few
if any health effects, other than those that could be expected from any low toxicity
silicate. Unlike asbestos, vermiculite has shown very few ill-effects in experimental
testing with animals. Chemical testing suggests that it may not stay long enough in the
lung to do serious damage.

All vermiculite ores contain a range of other minerals that were formed along with the
vermiculite in the rock. Vermiculite ores from some sources were even found to contain
asbestos minerals but asbestos is not intrinsic to vermiculite and only a few ore bodies
have been found to contain more than tiny trace amounts. Nevertheless serious public
concern was generated because of the known occurrences of asbestos in vermiculite
deposits such as those in Montana that were closed some years ago.

Asbestos is the name given to a number of naturally occurring fibrous silicate minerals
that have been exploited for their useful properties such as thermal insulation, chemical
and thermal stability, and high tensile strength. Chrysotile, known as white asbestos and
a member of the Serpentine mineral group is the commonest having been used widely in
asbestos cements, laggings and textiles. It is also becoming recognised as the least
harmful of the asbestos fibres because of its lower chemical stability.

The amphibole minerals form a very large group with a wide range of chemical
compositions united by a common crystal structure. The normal forms for all of the
amphiboles are prismatic, blocky, or rodlike crystals. However, certain of the
amphiboles, for example grunerite (amosite), riebeckite (crocidolite), tremolite,
actinolite and anthophyllite may occasionally occur in asbestos forms although these are
rare in comparison to the normal varieties.

Some confusion has arisen over the definition of amphibole asbestos which has led to
the wrong impression that both forms of the amphiboles are the same and equally
hazardous. It is now recognised that the prismatic mineral forms and the asbestos forms,
even of the same amphibole, are mineralogically distinct, fracture in critically different
ways, and the dusts formed by breakage have different effects on health. While asbestos
dusts are carcinogenic in animals and humans, the prismatic amphibole dusts are very
much less potent, and probably harmless to humans.

No asbestos related diseases have been found among the workers in any of the
vermiculite deposits except those in Montana where the asbestos exposure was known
to be very high. Where the possible health effects from industrial exposure to prismatic
amphiboles have been examined they have been mostly insignificant or ambiguous at
worst.

A wide range of regulations in Europe and the USA cover the supply, packaging and
labelling of materials containing asbestos or other carcinogens, and their use in the
workplace. All are relevant to the vermiculite producers, manufacturers and suppliers,
who are required to provide health and safety data sheets. While the legislation trigger
levels for all asbestos types are currently 0.1% of the bulk material and few vermiculite
deposits would fail to meet this standard, recent research shows that a target level of no
more than 0.001% for amphibole asbestos would be preferable for the vermiculite
industry.

Analytical techniques using optical and electron microscopy are available or are being
developed now to identify and to quantify asbestos in mineral raw materials and
products. Detection limits are below the suggested target levels so that it is possible to
screen new and established supplies of vermiculite for their suitability.

The paper, from which the above summary is taken, "Vermiculite is not Asbestos" by
John Addison, is available as a pdf format file from our Papers section.

Review of: Sampling and Analysis of Consumer Garden Products That Contain
Vermiculite (EPA 744-R-00-010, August, 2000)

Conclusions

With the exception of experiments performed using samples of Zonolite from Libby.
Montana, the results of these EPA studies provide no scientific basis for the statement
that currently available vermiculite products contain asbestos, or that use of these
products present measurable cancer risks

In the interpretation of the analytical data, EPA ignored its own published definition of
asbestos, mis-identified fibers, and applied risk factors that are not valid for the non-
asbestiform fibers found in the vermiculite products studied. The conclusions reached
by EPA on the basis of their studies are not supported by their data.

The review, from which the above conclusions are taken, "Review of: Sampling and
Analysis of Consumer Garden Products That Contain Vermiculite (EPA 744-R-00-010,
August, 2000)" by Dr. Eric Chatfield, is available as a pdf format file from our Papers
section.

Statement by The Vermiculite Association on the Recently Released Government

Studies of Vermiculite and the Potential Asbestos Exposure (May 2005)

Summary

In December 2004, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH),
Division of Respiratory Disease Studies, Field Studies Branch, released 10 site studies
measuring asbestos exposure during the handling and expansion of vermiculite and the
use of vermiculite horticulture products. Study sites were selected to include the types
of vermiculite currently in use today. The concern about vermiculite and asbestos grew
out of asbestos problems at the W.R. Grace Libby, Montana mine. The Libby deposit
contained a unique type of vermiculite, which had asbestos as a co-mineral. This W.R.
Grace Libby, Montana mine closed in 1990.

Among the 10 sites studied were three greenhouses using a broad range of commercial
vermi-culite growing mixes. The results of these NIOSH studies show that the use of
commercial vermiculite horticulture products presents no significant asbestos exposure
risk to commercial greenhouse or home horticulture users.

The full statement, from which the above summary is taken, "Statement by The
Vermiculite Association on the Recently Released Government Studies of Vermiculite
and the Potential Asbestos Exposure (May 2005)" is available as a pdf format file from
our Papers section.