Vermiculite and asbestos are two minerals used for similar purposes.  Both have been historically used as excellent insulators, since they have highly effective heat resistance properties.  They are also both wonderful fire retardants, which makes them useful in the construction and shipbuilding industries.

That could be where the similarities end, however, because vermiculite is generally considered to be harmless to humans who are mining or working with it, while asbestos exposure can lead to many life-threatening diseases.  These diseases include mesothelioma, which has no known cure and can kill someone with terrifying quickness once symptoms manifest themselves.

Vermiculite is mined all around the world, with particularly large concerns operating in China, Brazil, South Africa, the United States, and Zimbabwe.  Within the United States, the largest mines are in the Appalachian mountain range, especially around Virginia.  It resembles mica, another mineral sometimes used for insulation in electronic devices, and has a brownish, vaguely metallic and glassy hue.

Since vermiculite has some similar properties as asbestos, it is often associated with mesothelioma.  However, there does not appear to be any evidence linking the mineral with the brutal cancer, or with any other diseases typically associated with asbestos exposure.  The major causal association between vermiculite and mesothelioma, at least in this country, appears to have stemmed from the asbestos-tainted vermiculite mines of Libby, Montana.  The case of asbestos in Libby, Montana is a well-documented and devastating one which has affected the lives of many in the area.

Due to the fact that vermiculite is generally considered harmless, it’s still used for construction today.  However, vermiculite from the Libby mines is considered suspect, since much of the mineral mined there also contains traces of asbestos.  That isn’t considered harmless.  If you have been exposed to vermiculite from Libby, Montana, there’s a chance that you might have also been exposed to asbestos.  If that’s the case, it might be a good idea to contact a mesothelioma lawyer with a proven track record of success.

Asbestos exposure has been a widespread, well-documented, and sadly devastating concern in the isolated mining community of Libby, Montana.  The issue began in 1919, when a vermiculite mine, called the Zonolite Company, opened in the area.  The mine soon grew to become a primary employer in the area, with many of the area’s population employed in the mining of vermiculite, and, in 1963, the mine was purchased by W. R. Grace and Company.  Unfortunately, the vermiculite that was proving to be a boon to the people of Libby also appeared to contain asbestos fibers, which, unbeknownst to the local populace, was causing an abnormally high number of deaths from asbestos-related ailments, including mesothelioma.

Once the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ran a series of articles (called, collectively, “A Town Left to Die”) linking the unusual number of asbestos-related deaths in the area to the mine formerly run by W. R. Grace and Company, federal investigators stepped in to determine the veracity of some of the claims made.  Their investigation turned up a disheartening result: there was an alarmingly high level of asbestos fibers found in air samples taken from around the area.  The authorities subsequently linked this finding to the asbestos-related illnesses that plagued the town.

Once the connection was made, the wide-ranging nature of Libby’s asbestos problems was made clear.  Nearly 300 deaths in the town and its surrounding are suspected to be related to asbestos.  This figure, already shockingly high, is even more tragic when taken in context of the town’s population of under 3,000.  Subsequent criminal charges were brought against employees of W. R. Grace & Company, all of whom were found not guilty on all counts.

Nothing can undo the disaster that transpired in Libby, Montana, a good mesothelioma lawyer—or, more likely, a  team of them—could theoretically help intercede on their behalf.  Let’s hope that environmental disasters such as this one neither transpire nor go unpunished in the future.