Asbestos used in brake pads?

[CamH]

Do some brake pads use asbestos? I bought a set of new pads the other day and the packaging had a statement something like "Do not contain Asbestos" which made me think that maybe some do. I ask mainly because I had the hubs off the trailer and spent a bit of time grinding the surface back to shiny and removing a lot of built up crap (some of which I assume was brake pad left overs). It didn't occur to me at the time but I was breathing in a fair bit of the dust in the air from it.

[toymod]

Yes some do

[ShaneJ]

I beleive that brake pads and shoes do not use asbestos anymore. I think they stoped using it over 12 months ago.

[finga64]

Doesn't really matter if the dust has asbestos or not. It's always good practice to don a mask where dust is concerned. Don't know what's in the dust eh :-/
It's been found (in the US) that glass fibres are just as bad, if not worse, then asbestos. Think about that everyone that has yellow or pink batts in the ceiling. They've been banned in the US for donkey's years now.
Cheers Scott

[CamH]

yeah, should've had a mask for sure anyway.

[PinHead]

The use of asbestos in brake pads has been banned in Australia since the end of 2003...no brake pads which contain asbestos can be fitted after that time.

As for mineral fibre insulation( fibreglass)...there is no proof that these are harmful..asbestos fibres break down in both horizontal and vertical planes enabling them to get through the filters and into the lungs. Mineral fibres only break down in one plane and do not break down small enough to get through the body's filters. Batt insulation is not banned in the USA at all...it is still the most common and effective method of home insulation.

The USA Dept of Energy does not mention any banning of these types of insulation.
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/insulation/ins_08.html

[snappa]

train travelers
"BEWARE"
speacially when u reach the age of 60..
and
u develop a cough >>>> :-X

[Dignity]

wear a mask - even wood dust has been found to be harmful and not necessarily the CCA treated stuff either

[finga64]

The use of asbestos in brake pads has been banned in Australia since the end of 2003...no brake pads which contain asbestos can be fitted after that time.

As for mineral fibre insulation( fibreglass)...there is no proof that these are harmful..asbestos fibres break down in both horizontal and vertical planes enabling them to get through the filters and into the lungs. Mineral fibres only break down in one plane and do not break down small enough to get through the body's filters. Batt insulation is not banned in the USA at all...it is still the most common and effective method of home insulation.

The USA Dept of Energy does not mention any banning of these types of insulation.
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/insulation/ins_08.html

How many people wear masks in their V-J ceilinged Queenslander?? How many gaps are there in the ceilings of an old Queenslander for the fibres to fall through??
The glass fibres get breathed in and because of the sharp ends they stick into meaty bits real easy and then as they are glass they do not break down once inbedded in you.
If you wonder about the fibres floating about in the roof cavity just go up into a cavity in summer and sit still there for awhile and see how long it takes to start itching because of the glass fibres.
These people have the same theory http://www.garynull.com/Documents/spectrum/forego_the_fiberglass.htm
It doesn't really matter what you find on the net because some sites say the total opposite of what another site.
If you don't feel safe don't use it (my house is in that camp) and if you think it's safe, go ahead.
GM may have an opinion about glass fibres.
I'll use the wool insulation I think
Cheers Scott

[PinHead]

finga...a bit off topic but be wary of the wool insulation..wool contains lanolin and lanolin burns...no wool insulation will pass the 4 zero smoke and fire test..so be carteful.

As for the glass..the body repels mineral fibres..no one has died from these fibres in the decades they have been in use and after a great many studies no one has found any long term ill effects from these either. Plus..fibreglass batts have the best U factor (insulating qualities) of all the products on the market.

[billfisher]

Pinhead is right Finga. If fiberglass is as bad or worse than asbestos you would be hearing about compensation cases from people who have worked with it. If fact studies have shown that there is no increased incidence of cancer among people who have worked with fiberglass.

[charleville]

Whew! #Aren't I lucky that I chose to put in aluminium batts some years ago?

...but I'll bet someone out there is going to tell me that I now run the risk of alzheimer's. # ;D ;D

No worries about that. #I reckon that building that Super Six asbestos cement fence 23 years ago will get me some day, >:(

... or that time 25 years ago when I sprayed an awful lot of Baygon in the air in a garden shed that I was cleaning out and before I really understood the dangers of that stuff being airborne, #>:(

...or the skin cancers that are likely to develop because of all of the time that fair skinned me spends out fishing, #>:(

...then again, I cannot swim well and I do go fishing a lot in the open Bay of a night time on my own, # :-/

... but of course, I am 167kg and am a ticking time bomb in the heart/stroke stakes, #>:(

... then again, whilst I have never been a smoker, I would have picked up a lot of side smoke from my Dad who was a heavy smoker or from those crowded smoky night clubs that I used to frequent all the time when I was a pup, # >:(

... then again, I do drive and the chances of dying on the roads are ever there, #>:(

... but I also like using chainsaws, circular saws and other dangerous things around the home, #>:(

...then again, a mate of mine was just walking down the street in Melbourne in about 1990 when a window fell out of its fittings on a high rise and fell to earth via him. #>:(


Gosh - there is just so much to worry about. # ;D ;D ;D

[finga64]

;D ....too true Charleville.
As my Nana always said "you gotta die of something" ;)

[Louis]

Life is full of risks.

Unfortunately we can't eliminate all of them.



Louis