MARYSVILLE, Ohio — A revolutionary fertilizer blend that helped transform the Scotts Co. into the nation's biggest and best-known producer of do-it-yourself lawn and garden products also contributed to the deaths of at least five workers, The Columbus Dispatch reported Sunday.

        Dozens of other current and former workers have been sickened by microscopic asbestos fibers they unknowingly inhaled on the job, the newspaper reported, citing court documents, regulatory reports, workers' compensation claims, medical records and interviews.

        The workers were exposed to a pinkish-tan ore called vermiculite. It has been used in fertilizer, sold straight and mixed with potting soil to retain moisture.

        But the newspaper said vermiculite used by Scotts was — and still might be — contaminated with tremolite, a rare, but lethal form of asbestos that contributed to the deaths of the workers who handled the materials at the Scotts plant in this city about 30 miles northwest of Columbus. Exposure to asbestos can cause asbestosis, an incurable lung disease.

        Two of the five died of asbestos-related lung cancer more than 25 years after they first were exposed to the fibers. The three others died of lung and heart disease aggravated by asbestos.

        Because it can take as long as 40 years from the time of exposure for diseases to be revealed, the toll could be higher.

        The company initially denied that the asbestos-contaminated vermiculite caused the illnesses, but Christiane Schmenk, the company's director of environmental stewardship, later acknowledged that asbestos contributed to the deaths and illnesses.

        Ms. Schmenk could not reached for comment Sunday. A message was left on her voice mail.

        Scotts has known about its asbestos problems since at least 1971. Yet the company continued to rely on vermiculite, even after a dozen of its employees started coughing up blood in the mid-1970s, the newspaper said.

        In April, Scotts officials said the company's sources of vermiculite were asbestos-free. They later clarified their definition of the term and said any asbestos contaminating the ore was well below regulatory limits.

        “We're confident that our products are safe, but over the past couple of years, science has sometimes taken a back seat to public perception,” Ms. Schmenk told the Dispatch. “We realize that there are people who will continue to think there might still be a problem.”

        The victims include Lloyd Gordon, who died in May 1986 of a heart attack. An X-ray taken in 1977 showed the early stages of asbestosis. Donald Collins, 49, died later that year of pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable lung disease that his doctor said was caused by asbestosis. Both had worked at the plant.

        “When Don went to Lloyd's funeral, dragging his oxygen tank behind him, he said, 'I guess I've got four months to live.' Sure enough, he was dead within the year,” Mr. Gordon's widow, Alice Gordon, told the newspaper. “It wasn't like they were old men. But that vermiculite wore them down and eventually killed them.”

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