Is this Vermiculite and is it dangerous?

[ahearsum]

I'm remodelling my first floor bathroom and lifted the chipboard floor to find a load of small stones. An internet search suggested it my be Vermiculite and that it might not be that good for me if I breath in the dust. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of this and if it is dangerous how to get rid of it?

 

[Lower]

It probably is vermiculite. If it is, the 'stones' will be very light.

Vermiculite itself is not dangerous. But if it was installed before the 1990s there is a chance that the vermiculite may have been contaminated with asbestos when it was originally mined.

You can get it tested (asbestos testing kits available from a variety of places on line) if you need to disturb it. Otherwise i'd cover it up again and not worry about it.

 

[ahearsum]

Otherwise i'd cover it up again and not worry about it.

Thanks for your answer. Unfortunately the project requires me to pretty much disturb everything. Given the history of owners it probably dates from either early 90s or early 2000s. My guess is probably 2000s. I read about it being mined in America and possibly being contaminated by asbestos. I would like a new bathroom but not at the risk of cancer!

 

[Lower]

Get it tested then to be sure and if it is contaminated, what type of asbestos it is contaminated with.

If it turns out to be contaminated, you can have it professionally removed. If its not contaminated, you can crack on with your bathroom with your mind at rest.

 

[gonch69]

Looks more limestone chippings to me
vermi looks more like small chipping if wood

 

[ahearsum]

Looks more limestone chippings to me
vermi looks more like small chipping if wood

Yes, the more I'm discovering on the internet the more it seems like stones. It's not light weight and it has the look and feel of something you'd lay beside a garden path. I've not come across underfloor insulation of this type before. I'm curious as to why stones would be used rather than rockwool , foam etc. It is (was) under a bath.

 

[footprints]

Does not look anything like vermiculite to me, vermiculite is "puffed up" almost like popcorn or puff pastry it has layers and is very light.
Some kind of chippings would be my guess, cannot see what it is there for really.

 

[^woody^]

Nothing like vermiculite

 

[Notch7]

Perhaps it was for sound insulation

 

[gonch69]

Or no room in the skip