After much adventuring in asbestosland, which is everywhere Calgary, we can explore the many types and forms of this nasty pox on our builders. First of all vermiculite is that nasty rat sh@t looking stuff you see underneath a layer of modern pink batt. Not all vermiculite has asbestos but it is treated as if it does. I was looking at a recent sample and it showed that my very own vermiculite contained some 1% Actinolite. So I thought that’s great, no chrysotile so we are good to go. Alas the Actinolite is the contaminant in the vermiculite and it has the nastiest properties of needle shaped fibres that are the prime carcinogen.
Someone slept peacefully under this vermiculite for the past hundred years. What a nasty surprise you’d get if you wanted to cut in a pot light !