Talk:Vermiculite

Questions
The section on controversy begins objectively but then turns into fairly loaded narrative. My primary example is the following paragraph: "The vermiculite deposit at the mine in Libby, Montana, was (and is) heavily contaminated with asbestos.[broken citation][6] Numerous people were knowingly[broken citation][7] exposed to the harmful dust of vermiculite that contained asbestos. Unfortunately, the mine had been operating since the 1920s, and environmental and industrial controls were virtually non-existent until the mine was purchased by the W.R. Grace Company in 1963. Yet, knowing the human health risks, the mining company still continued to operate there until 1990. Consequently, many of the former miners and residents of Libby have been affected and continue to suffer health problems. Over 200 people in the town have died from asbestos-related disease due to contamination from vermiculite mining from nearby Zonolite Mountain, where soil samples were found to be loaded with fibrous tremolite (known to be a very toxic form of asbestos), and countless others there who insulated their homes with Zonolite have succumbed to asbestos-related diseases, most of whom never were employed in environments where asbestos was an issue.[broken citation][8]"-- I have bolded the sections that I consider to be either narrative and inappropriate for an objective statement of fact or they are claims that really need to be supported by some sort of citation. Sorry, if I'm noting this incorrectly. I am new to editing wikipedia and am not yet comfortable enough with the procedures to make the corrections myself. — Preceding unsigned comment added by WRXspec (talk • contribs) 15:42, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

where is vermiculite formed

"The United States government estimates that it is used in more than 35 million homes." I think this statement should be accompanied by the date or year the esimation was made. Buildings are always being torn down. It seems to me that this estimation will become less accurate with time.

This link, which was the link provided for Source 1, did not work for me.

http://www.grace.com/html/history.html#1960

75.15.114.106 10:03, 3 January 2007 (UTC) Eric

The Fireproofing section is only slightly about fireproofing, and mostly about marketing and litigation.

Dougher 01:48, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

(Health problems with the Libby vermiculite seem to be confined to the workers at the mine and to residents of the town of Libby, and not to end-users of the exfoliated or expanded vermiculite. This statement is not entirely accurate: A good friend of mine, Rich Uranis, died in April of 2006 due to asbestosis caused by (W.R. Grace) zonolite removal from Ford plants in Michigan.  There is an interview with him on ABCNEWS Nightline on November 4th, 2005 about the topic (I have seen a few links on the internet about it, where his name is incorrectly spelled Uranus).M-w-b 07:03, 14 July 2007 (UTC) Rich Uranis, cute.  Also known as Dick, no doubt. 207.189.230.42 (talk) 06:34, 22 November 2007 (UTC) No, but thanks for mocking him after death, very classy.10:03, 4 February 2008 (UTC)  —Preceding unsigned comment added by M-w-b (talk • contribs)

The external link, titled "Petition for writ of certiorari to U.S. Supreme Court (April 27, 2006)" is broken. Luxztizer (talk) 20:01, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

Palabora Mining Company Limited
...of South Africa and the Johannesburg Securities Exchange#P, which according to its website, produces 80% of vermiculite sold globally. Company also produces a lot of copper ore and smelted refined copper metal in anode and rod form. http://www.palabora.com/ --Mr Accountable (talk) 15:05, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

Thermal expansivity
"Expand on the aplication with heat" doesn't all or almost all metireals? J (talk) 14:12, 10 January 2010 (UTC)

sheets
"it has 2 tetrahedral sheets for every one octahedral sheet. " - could this be explained for the layperson? The link to tetrahedron is about the shape, and doesn't mention clay. --Chriswaterguy talk 23:35, 5 March 2011 (UTC)

External links modified
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External links modified
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Fireproofing, but not with polystyrene!
"Today spray-applied fireproofing materials use vermiculite, other industrial minerals, and expanded polystyrene, depending upon the exact commercial product."

Expanded polystyrene does seem very unsuitable for fire-proofing, even if a fireretardant is added and the product is only used as a binder. It should only be used as thermal insulation keeping its flammability in mind. Grenfell Tower shows how dangerous is can be.150.227.15.253 (talk) 10:17, 11 January 2018 (UTC)

Actually, in Grenfell other plastics may have been used but plastics in general are unsuitable for fireproofing and pose a fire safety risk. Below ground, e.g. on the outside of basement walls expanded polystyrene may be a proper choice as thermal insulation. This is not the place for lengthy discussion on polystyrene but it ought to be removed from the cited sentence.150.227.15.253 (talk) 10:32, 11 January 2018 (UTC)