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Volver al Blog de AsbestosWhy Gardeners and Farmers may Want to Double-Check Their Soil
Does potting soil contain asbesto? The short answer is maybe.
Use caution in selecting your gardening products, and consider avoiding older products or those from vendors you have doubts about.
Some people have house plants that they nourish like family members while others joke that a plant wouldn’t survive in their presence. But according to National Geographic, there’s no mistaking that “urban gardening” has been steadily rising in popularity over the past 3 decades.
Whether you have a green thumb or know someone who does, you’ve probably seen bags of potting soil in your lifetime. But what you may not have considered is that there could be any inherent risk to using it.
A number of potting soils contain minerals known to have been contaminated with asbesto. Pouring one of these potting soils could potentially send asbesto fibers airborne.
El asbesto is a mineral that was widely used in industry, but is known to cause significant health problems, including breathing diseases like asbestosis, cáncer de pulmón y mesotelioma.
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Si es posible que haya estado expuesto al asbesto, hable con su proveedor de atención médica sobre pruebas y exámenes para ayudar a detectar la presencia de fibras de enfermedades relacionadas con el asbesto.
Is there any asbesto in potting soil?
Potting soil is most often a mix of:
- Organic materials, like compost or animal manure;
- Inorganic materials, like perlite or sand; and
- Fertilizers or other additives.
National Geographic recently looked into the different types of materials used for potting soil. Potting soil, believe it or not, does not always contain any dirt or soil from the earth. Rather, different materials and additives are often combined to give plants a healthy environment to grow in. The combination is usually sterile, so it doesn’t contain microorganisms that cause fungus or other disease for plants.
So, how could asbesto get into potting soil?
The mineral vermiculita – often used to aerate gardening soil – is often found with significant asbesto mineral formations.
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Vermiculite is a naturally occurring mineral that is frequently used in gardening because it helps aerate soil. It does not rot or mold, and helps plants retain moisture and nutrients. Vermiculite has a shiny, flaky appearance in its natural form, but puffs up and appears duller after being heated. It was once often used in construction materials like insulation, just like a certain other mineral we are familiar with (asbesto).
El asbesto-tainted Vermiculite in Libby, Montana
Since vermiculite and asbesto are both naturally occurring minerals that are mined for use, it is possible to mine them together while only intending to mine vermiculite.
 | In fact, a mine in Libby, Montana, that was owned and operated by W.R. Grace, was estimated to have provided as much as 80% of the world’s vermiculite at the peak of its operation. Most of this product was contaminated with tremolite – one of the most toxic forms of asbesto in the amphibole family. |
Would I be able to tell if my potting soil is contaminated with asbesto?
By now, most people are aware that encountering asbesto can be dangerous for your health. The mineral, once reigning in popularity in various products, has been proven to be a carcinogen that can contribute to a variety of health conditions and even fatal diseases.
El asbesto fibers have no smell or taste, and many can only be seen with an electron microscope.
Though asbesto has many properties, a distinct smell is not one of them. Its fibers are also microscopic and therefore undetectable with the naked eye. This is also why it is so easy to inhale or ingest asbesto once the fibers are released into the air, because you likely may not even realize you’re doing it.
El asbesto diseases usually take many decades to appear.
According to the American Lung Association, once asbesto fibers enter the body, some of them never leave. Instead they embed in bodily tissue,
 | Over time, microscopic asbesto fibers damage and scar the lungs and other tissue, interfere with the body’s defenses, and increase the risk of cancer. |
The importance of proper testing for asbesto
If you’re ever in doubt about whether or not you are dealing with asbesto, in potting soil or anywhere else, we’ve covered different methods of asbesto pruebas aquí.
¿Califica usted para una compensación?
Quickly and easily find out how you were exposed by searching W.A.R.D., the largest asbesto database on the planet.
BÚSQUEDA GRATIS >The three main categories of exposición al asbesto:
- Ocupacional exposición al asbesto
- Second-hand exposición al asbesto (secondary asbestos exposure)
- Ambiental exposición al asbesto
El asbesto-contaminated soil and water are 2 examples of environmental exposición. This is exposición to asbesto that does not come from your job (occupational) or from spending significant time with someone else who was exposed and brought fibers home (secondary).
 | Mixing up and digging into vermiculite laced potting soil could possibly increase your risk of exposición al asbesto, or even lead to environmental exposición. |
Remember, if you have concerns about potential exposición al asbesto from your product and are not able to get it professionally tested, the safest route would be to switch products.
AsbestosClaims.Law
For Justinian C. Lane, getting compensation for asbesto victims is personal.
Justinian’s grandparents and his father all worked with asbesto in their younger years and died from asbesto-related cancers in their later years.
At the time of each of their deaths, no one in Justinian’s family knew that they were eligible to file an asbesto lawsuit and to seek compensation from the asbesto trusts.
Because no one in Justinian’s family knew their options, they never received any compensation for the death of their loved ones.
Si cree que su lesión o la de su familiar estuvo relacionada con la exposición al asbesto, podría tener derecho a una compensación significativa.
This is money you could use to cover the costs of asbesto removal services, pay for medical treatment, and preemptively protect your physical well-being.
También hay fideicomisos de asbesto que ofrecen compensación mucho más rápida y fácilmente (sin presentar una demanda).
Si desea ayuda para presentar un reclamo, ponerse en contacto por correo electrónico a [email protected] o llámenos o envíenos un mensaje de texto al (833) 4-ASBESTOS (427-2378) o (206) 455-9190. Escucharemos su historia y le explicaremos sus opciones. Y nunca cobramos por nada a menos que reciba dinero en su bolsillo.
Además de demandas legales, discapacidad de veteranos, seguridad social y protección del empleo como compensación de trabajadores, FELA y La ley de Jones para los trabajadores marítimos, hay asbesto trusts that have been set up to compensate those harmed by asbesto without having to file a lawsuit.
There is no risk or cost to speak with one of our staff about your asbesto litigation. There are no fees unless you receive money.
If you have any additional questions or concerns related to asbesto, check out our sitio web y página de YouTube for videos, infographics and answers to your questions about asbesto, incluida la la salud y la seguridad, asbesto pruebas, removing asbesto from your home and building, y información legal sobre compensation for asbesto lesiones.
Introducing the largest database of asbesto information on the planet.
W.A.R.D., que significa Worldwide Asbestos Research Database, ayuda a los clientes a reducir cuándo y dónde pueden haber estado expuestos, así como qué productos aún pueden contener asbesto.WARD también ayudará a indicar los tipos de compensación ya cuánto puede tener derecho una persona.
1 https://www.lung.org/clean-air/at-home/indoor-air-pollutants/asbesto
