Airborne asbestos exceeded current occupational standards

The conditions inside the operating vermiculite facility were extremely dusty, and workers were exposed to asbestos in air that exceeded current occupational standards. All indoor air samples taken in 1972 and 1973 exceeded the current OSHA PEL by 4 to 500 times.

Furthermore, news articles and anecdotal information from former employees make it clear that employees were exposed to asbestos fibers and that some developed disease later in life.

A case study of a worker in a California vermiculite expansion plant provides additional evidence of the severity of conditions in facilities like Vermiculite NW. The worker developed fatal asbestosis 50 years after working in the plant for only two summers.

Courtesy of the Washington Department of Health