The Health Effects of Mineral Wool Insulation

We all know the benefits of having a well insulated home, not least of which is smaller heating and cooling bills as a result of increased energy efficiency. Unfortunately many people are not achieving the savings possible.

The largest source of heat loss in the home is the attic. We spend hundreds of dollars a month heating the air in our rooms only to let it rise up straight out of the room via our uninsulated attic. The most common way to insulate an attic is with miner wool or fibreglass quilts or batts, but many people are reluctant to use these materials because they fear there may be negative health effects due to airborne particles released from the insulation material.

There is a widely held belief that mineral wool and fibreglass insulation can cause respiratory disease or cancer. Based on the fact that these materials release a lot of dust during installation, people have made the somewhat logical assumption that they could have terrible health effects.

The truth, thankfully is that once installed in accordance with manufacturers instructions there are absolutely no detrimental health effects to using these materials. The main precaution to be observed is the use of a mask so as not to inhale the airborne particles. Otherwise the worst that will happen is a sore throat and scratchy cough, certainly not respiratory disease or cancer.

It’s also worth wearing long sleeves, gloves and not wearing shorts, as the microscopic particles from fibreglass in particular can aggravate the skin. Once these simple precautions are taken during installation, you shouldn’t have any worries. As for the long term effects of having this material in your house, there aren’t any! Particles only become airborne when the mineral wool quilt is aggravated, which will rarely happen in the attic environment.

If you’re not convinced, and would simply prefer to use another material, there’s plenty to choose from. Foam board insulation, usually in the form or moulded or extruded expanded polystyrene is readily available. This foam provides a slightly higher R value per inch but, will be more time consuming to install as, the boards will have to be cut to size to fit between your ceiling joists.