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I'm assuming brake shoes no longer contains asbestos, right? But after working on my brakes and dusting them out I developed a chesty cough the next day and so just wondered if the dust is still toxic in anyway.
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Dust is dust and may make you cough. I don't suppose brake dust is especially benign. Some of it is steel dust.
But asbestosis isn't something you develop overnight, so it isn't likely to be anything of that sort. It's probably a coincidental dose of the disappointingly harmless swine flu.
Hope it's gone by tomorrow anyway.
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About 20 years ago, a company i worked for that had its own workshops and employed a certain truck mechanic, a smashing bloke.
You'd often see him as you passed the workshop, head stuffed under a wing blowing out the drum brakes of one of the vehicles with an airline..when i say you'd see him, he'd be a vague silhouette amidst the fog of old school brake dust....he never wore any protection apart from his overalls...amazing scene like something from a Steven King serial.
I saw him recently, he looks as fit as a fiddle and hasn't aged a day...unlike me..;)
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About 20 years ago a company i worked for that had its own workshops and employed a certain truck mechanic a smashing bloke. You'd often see him as you passed the workshop head stuffed under a wing blowing out the drum brakes of one of the vehicles with an airline..when i say you'd see him he'd be a vague silhouette amidst the fog of old school brake dust....he never wore any protection apart from his overalls...amazing scene like something from a Steven King serial. I saw him recently he looks as fit as a fiddle and hasn't aged a day...unlike me..;)
My father was contaminated by asbestos even though he didn't work directly with it. 40 years later it developed into mesothelioma and was dead in 18 months. Modern brake linings do not contain asbestos but do contain kevlar amongst others which has the potential to cause nasty lung problems in the future.
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Still got me cough. Steel dust doesn't sound the sort of stuff I'd want to get in my lungs. Maybe I've got Ferodo flue.
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It appears asbestos is still used but in a lower ratio and if you are changing brakes particularly on an older car with original brakes, a dusk mask should be worn when brushing out the dust.
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My first automotive job was with a disc brake manufacturer (which is no longer in business) and it was standard practice in the R&D department for the fitters to blow brake dust from around brakes with an air line. In those days (1960s) pads definitely contained asbestos. Ignorance was bliss. I just hope I don't suffer as a result.
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... blow brake dust from around brakes with an air line...
Did that dozens of times while servicing cars in the 1970s.
Just look away, maybe sneeze a couple of times - I can still remember the taste of the dust.
Ignorance was bliss.
Tend to think I'd have developed a noxious disease by now, if it was going to happen.
And if anyone has medical evidence to the contrary, don't bother posting it, I don't want to know. :)
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And if anyone has medical evidence to the contrary don't bother posting it I don't want to know. :)
Unfortunately ........... "Present statistics from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) indicate that there are 3500 asbestos related diseases in the United Kingdom per year which is expected to increase dramatically by the end of the decade. This is mainly attributable to the fact that there is usually a substantial delay between the first exposures of asbestos to the first symptoms of any asbestos related disease, varying from between 10 to 60 years."
The dangers of asbestos were known long before the subject was made public and steps taken to protect the public. It's over 45 years since I was exposed to asbestos at work and I still can't help thinking about it.
Edited by L'escargot on 15/05/2009 at 10:18
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By "dust" you mean the brown greasy deposit that has to be scraped out of the brake drum and wire-brushed off the cylinder and linkages, and poked out of the drainage holes with a screwdriver?
I can't think how you would set about breathing it even if you wanted to.
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By "dust" you mean the brown greasy deposit that has to be scraped out of the brake drum and wire-brushed off the cylinder and linkages and poked out of the drainage holes with a screwdriver? I can't think how you would set about breathing it even if you wanted to.
I f you found your brake dust is greasy you better check for leaking brake cylinder. Otherwise it becomes easily airborne if you blow or brush it out.
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A little bit off topic,but,I was reading a 1960's DIY book(by Readers Digest) recently and it advised in the external decoration section to 'wire brush the asbestos soffit boards'.
The soffit boards are the horizontal boards under the facia boards which the gutters are attached to.
If you wanted to get a good lungfull of dust that's a pretty good way to do it.How times change.
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>>If you wanted to get a good lungfull of dust that's a pretty good way to do it.How times change.
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I certainly brushed out the dust from the drums of my earlier cars so I hope I avoid the long term possibilities.
I also recall using " Phillaplug - spelling ?" which was an asbestos type of powdery stuff in a hinged tin about the size of a baccy tin.
I used it to fill drill holes in walls ready for screws rather than Rawlplugs.
Pick out a some of this, place in the palm of your hand and spit in it to wet it. Lots of fibres got airborne ready to go straight up your nose.
As you say " How times change"
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I think you might mean 'philplug Screwfix'.
I've kept a tin of this stuff, with contents, just in case I need to prove what products my employer was giving us to use.
We also used to play 'football' with bean-bag sized bags of fireproofing, which appeared to be asbestos (they had a slightly greasy feel to them).
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BT . Yes thats the stuff.
Gulp!!! All these products listed on the web site were /are around.
The Asbestos Information Centre
Trade names of asbestos containing materials
www.aic.org.uk/Tradenames.htm
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as a youth in the late 60s/ early 70s, me and a load of mates used to mess about in old factories ...one trick was to hang off the steam pipes and waggle them to make the white asbestos coating fall off like snow falling... im still drawing breath at a very pleasant rate fortunately...any one with asbestosis or emphysemia has my up most sympathy , i had double pneumonia caused by an infection ( viral or bacterial cant remember) it aint nice
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