• Vermiculite can scar your lungs.thorax x-ray of the lungs image by JoLin from Fotolia.com
  
  Vermiculite is a flaky mineral (silicate) that when heated expands up to 30 times its size. It then becomes a lightweight, fire-resistant substance with several uses, including home insulation. From 1919 to 1990, a mine in Montana, which was the source of 70 percent of all vermiculite marketed as insulation in the United States, extracted asbestos-contaminated vermiculite. The Environmental Protection Agency determined that the tainted vermiculite was hazardous to your health because of its potential to cause several diseases.
  
  

Asbestosis

• Asbestosis is a chronic lung disease that develops after long-term inhalation of asbestos fibers. Its most common symptom is shortness of breath. Doctors examining your lungs with a stethoscope can also hear rales, a rattling sound at the end of a complete inhalation. In addition, a chest x-ray also shows abnormalities in your middle and lower lung.
  
  

Mesothelioma

• Vermiculite-contaminated asbestos can lead to mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs and abdominal cavity. Patients with this cancer have chest and shoulder pain as well as chronic dry cough. As the disease progresses, they lose weight, become weak and have fevers.
  
  

Lung Cancer

• While it might take years before you show symptoms, your lungs begin to change soon after exposure to asbestos-contaminated vermiculite. Therefore, you may not feel ill in the early stages of the disease. In the advanced stages of lung cancer, you will develop chronic coughing, shortness of breath, fever and chest pain. Your weight will also drop.
  
  

Coughing and Eye Irritation

• Uncontaminated vermiculite is a nuisance dust that causes coughing when you breathe it in and irritation when it enters your eyes. The best protection is to wear a mask and goggles when handling vermiculite.
  
  

Silicosis

• Silicosis occurs when you inhale silicate dust, such as vermiculite, over a long period. The dust scars your lung tissue, causing chronic shortness of breath. The damage to your lungs is incurable.