Did They Use Asbestos In Attic Insulation

It was likely brought home from work at a factory or salvaged from some other type of building.

Did they use asbestos in attic insulation.

With many homes from that era still standing it is no surprise to run into asbestos in some capacity. The libby mine was closed down in 1990 meaning any homes that were built and or remodeled prior to their closing date could have attic insulation containing asbestos. Asbestos insulation was widely used as an insulation material in most residential commercial and public buildings constructed between 1920 and 1986. I heard one story of a worker at a ship yard bringing the stuff home regularly and stuffing his attic full.

He decided to replace the existing insulation with new fiberglass insulation to save money in the winter months. Unfortunately it can also be found in a myriad of other household materials including. While remodeling the attic of his 1960s home john found piles of brown pebble like insulation. History of asbestos insulation.

The types of insulation that were most commonly made with asbestos are loose fill also called blown in insulation. If your attic or wall insulation is in batt or blanket form whether it s fiberglass cellulose or another material you generally don t have to be concerned about asbestos. It was used in construction materials including roofing materials asphalt shingles roofing felt adhesives putty caulking and patching materials. There was also a deposit of asbestos at that mine so the vermiculite from libby was contaminated with asbestos.

Concerns about asbestos contaminated vermiculite insulation a mine near libby montana was the source of over 70 percent of all vermiculite sold in the united states from 1919 to 1990. Asbestos insulation is a very common problem that many people have to deal with at some point. In homes built prior to 1975 asbestos is most commonly found as thermal insulation on basement boilers and pipes. In those rare cases the asbestos containing materials used for insulation were manufactured for some other purpose.

There are other sources of asbestos in attic insulation but this single source significantly outpaces the others the primary source of asbestos attic insulation is from a specific mine in montana operated for 70 years by the libby company according to the environmental protection. When disturbed tiny abrasive asbestos fibers are easily inhaled which damages lung tissue and can cause cancer. Attic insulation in older homes may contain asbestos that could fall through ceiling cracks. Asbestos has been used since ancient times to make fireproof cloth for the burial shrouds of kings and the tablecloths of wealthy landholders but the modern asbestos industry did not arise until the machinery of the industrial revolution created a great need for insulation materials.