How dangerous are asbestos drag washers

[bluefish69]

many of the pipes at the old hospital were insulated with raw asbestos.  their answer was to paint it over once every 5 years. 

When you had a leak you had to call an outside contractor to remove the Asbestos Covering. After removal they used floor wax sprayed on to seal to spots they removed.

[MFB]

I worked with some old fella's at Railways who did their time on steam engines. One of them told me that they had an asbestos room where the used empty sacks of into a trough and mix it up for lagging. He said the air was so thick with it you could hardly see let alone breathe. There was still a little bit around in the 80's when we used to strip and rebuild engines that had be built the 60's on copper water pipes and axle box liners.

Rgds

Mark   

[FatTuna]

So in looking up asbestos and the risks of exposure, I found out there are multiple diseases that it is linked with. I just want to clarify, when the mineral is mixed with other substances to form drag washers, there is a zero risk of developing other forms of cancer or asbestosis, correct?

[Shark Hunter]

That's the way I see it Sean. It has to be in pure form to be harmful.

[Alto Mare]

When it's in processed form it is considered "friable" meaning it is stable. It's a rip off to have to get a special permit and take asbestos materials to special expensive dumps.  Stuff like roof shingles and asbestos siding is safe but not according to the uninformed bureaucrats that force the permit issue.  Dominick

I'm a general contractor and deal with asbestos every now and then, minimizing dust will help, I never cut or grind the material.
To me, putting up some type of circus tent over your house for precaution during removal of asbestos is just as valuable as putting duct tape around your windows to protect you from a nuclear holocaust Undecided.
When we say we dispose trash, do we really throw it away? Maybe if we shoot it out of orbit, and even then...
Most of the stuff we throw away is still with us.
Sometimes getting too deep into things works against you, lets go fishing and forget about it...life's too short.
Sal

[Robert Janssen]

I know they are generally referred to as asbestos on this and many other boards, but really the friction materials as found typically in older Penn reels are generally comprised of a phenolic resin matrix filled with varying amounts of filler materials in a sort-of scientific blend. Glass, metal and organic fibers, maybe some asbestos too, rubber, metal flakes...a pinch of newt's foot, a dash of dragon tail or whatever else was nearby.

Inclusion of asbestos in friction materials was gradually and largely phased out over the years, and i really don't know if Penn's material actually contains any asbestos at all. In any case, it would be bound within the resin matrix and thusly not have freefloating airborne particles.

Incidentally, i'd like to recall that Penn's material used in the very early Internationals was a whitish-grayish donut- that may or may not have actually contained more or less asbestos (which was considered an excellent friction material).

So in looking up asbestos and the risks of exposure, I found out there are multiple diseases that it is linked with. I just want to clarify, when the mineral is mixed with other substances to form drag washers, there is a zero risk of developing other forms of cancer or asbestosis, correct?

Something like that. Just don't crush it into dust and snort it. You should be okay.

.

[FatTuna]

Thanks for the information guys. I just wanted to be safe rather then sorry.