U.S. Geological Survey scientists and partners have created an onsite, time-saving technique for building inspectors to ascertain whether vermiculite insulation contains amphibole asbestos. The findings are featured in the April 2 edition of American Mineralogist.
U.S. Geological Survey scientists and partners have created an onsite, time-saving technique for building inspectors to ascertain whether vermiculite insulation contains amphibole asbestos. The findings are featured in the April 2 edition of American Mineralogist.
Approximately one million homes in the United States contain vermiculite attic insulation. One of the major past sources of this vermiculite was commercially produced vermiculite insulation from Libby, Montana, containing trace levels of asbestiform amphibole, which is known to cause asbestos-related diseases. Although the Libby mine is closed and part of a Superfund site, the existing insulation in many older houses and buildings still needs to be tested for asbestos. When vermiculite insulation is found in an attic, evaluating it for asbestos has traditionally involved collecting a sample and submitting it for potentially time-consuming analyses at an off-site laboratory.
“The goal of this USGS study was to find an onsite way to test for asbestos by determining if near-infrared reflectance measurements, using portable spectrometers, could be used to reliably identify the source of vermiculite ore and therefore its potential to contain asbestos,” said Denver-based USGS scientist and first author Gregg Swayze. “We achieved this goal.”
Continue reading at USGS.
Image via USGS.
