Brake & ****** Asbestos Safety

[e-tek]

I got this from a site I subscribe to and thought it was some good info for all us guys doing brake and clutch work in our home shops:

Auto Restoration 101

More on Asbestos……Proper way to Clean your Brakes
Posted: 18 Mar 2009 04:51 AM PDT

This is taken from the EPA brakes brochure. Go HERE to read the full brochure.
As a home mechanic, what can I do to protect myself from asbestos exposure?
If you are not able to determine whether your brakes or clutch contain asbestos, you may want to consider having your brakes or clutch serviced at a commercial automotive shop. As noted above, OSHA requires special work practices for professional automotive technicians. If, however,this is not possible and you do not have access to the equipment professional automotive shops use to comply with the OSHA work practices, you may want to consider using the wet wipe method described in this brochure. This method has been deemed acceptable by OSHA for shops that service no more than five brake or clutch jobs per week.
Work Practice Don’ts for Home Mechanics: It is recommended that you:
* Do not use compressed air for cleaning. Compressed air blows dust into the air.
* Do not clean brakes or clutches with a dry rag, brush (wet or dry), or garden hose.
* Do not use an ordinary wet/dry vac without a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter to vacuum dust. Invisible particles of brake or clutch dust can stay in the air and on your clothes long after a job is complete.
* Avoid taking work clothing inside the home or tracking dust through the house after performing brake and clutch work to prevent exposing your family to dust particles that may contain asbestos.
Work Practice Do’s for Home Mechanics: It is recommended that you:
* Use pre-ground, ready-to-install parts.
* If a brake or clutch lining must be drilled,grooved, cut, beveled, or lathe-turned, use low speeds to keep down the amount of dust created.
* Use machinery with a local exhaust dust collection system equipped with HEPA filtration to prevent dust exposures and work area contamination.
* Change into clean clothes before going inside the home and wash soiled clothes separately.
* Minimize exposure to others by keeping bystanders, as well as food and drinks, away from the work area.
Wet Wipe Method: This method involves using a spray bottle or other device capable of delivering a fine mist of water, or amended water (water with a detergent), at low pressure to wet all brake and clutch parts. The brakes can then be wiped clean with a cloth.

 

[tsumetai-kokoro]

if brake dust has asbestos in it... aren't we all exposed, every day, from every car, while the brakes are in use???

 

[krusty the clown]

i don't believe brakes have been made with asbestos since the 80's..........

 

[v8garage]

Funny how times have changed. Brake companies used to advertise that their product had asbestos in them. The trade name "Raybestos" for example.
V/8

 

[Tarheelgarage]

i don't believe brakes have been made with asbestos since the 80's..........

It was banned in NEW OEM pads/shoes but offshore aftermarket replacements were not banned....from what I was told

 

[john w]

I just learned at the community college that imported brakes and clutches still
contain asbestos. Also learned that a top scientist at OSHA was given some
leave without pay for not changing the wording in one of his reports which was
unfavorable to the automobile lobby. His name is Ira Wainless. I will get my
daughter to help post a link if you don't find it first. The article about him was
in the Baltimore Sun on Nov. 20, 2006.

 

[Junkman]

Back in the 1980's when asbestos problems were the constant subject of the news, a report came out that said that the asbestos fibers in brake dust was so small, that it didn't pose the same level of danger as most asbestos products. I spray the brake backing plates, shoes, springs and everything else with soapy water, and then rinse with a hose. I do my brake work in the driveway and not in an enclosed garage whenever possible. I take precautions, but I also consider the risk.

 

[Elroy]

I spray the brake backing plates, shoes, springs and everything else with soapy water, and then rinse with a hose. I do my brake work in the driveway and not in an enclosed garage whenever possible.

Same here. That get the big stuff off. Follow that by a good wash down with Brake-Kleen. Then a total disassembly.

If the pads or shoe come off, the surfaces get turned or the component gets replaced.

You can half *** do it and come back in two years or you can do it right and come back in 10 years. Depending on level of abuse that is.

 

[e-tek]

A lot of guys "sort of know" this stuff, a few probably don't know it at all. I kinda knew it in the back of my mind, but never considered it when doing brakes on my older cars. I have "blown" the dust off into the air many times.
While I know few are as dumb as me, some might make the same mistake - which was why I posted it.

 

[nate379]

I blow it off with the air hose and try not to breath it in too much. gotta die somehow right?

 

[idubvdub]

I guess, but it's not exactly a pleasant or quick death.

 

[Identaltech]

My first brake job I did it high school I wanted to blow it off but my Dad stoped me and
told me to always assume that it has asbestos in it.
so always washed down and did outside.
good info.

better safe than sorry

 

[nate379]

You have to look at it this way...

If you do 5 brake jobs a day, 5 days a week for 20 years... yes... I'm sure it's an issue if you are blowing the dust off.

Now take me... I might do 5 brake jobs a year... little different huh?? Ok, yeah it's not the best thing to do, but it's not going to kill me IMO.

It's like all the retarded warnings... "According to the state of California this item can cause cancer"..

There was info on the news a while back about factory workers getting cancer from popcorn flavor. Does that mean if I eat a bag of popcorn a couple times a month I get cancer?? Not even close!

 

[Skyline]

You can half *** do it and come back in two years or you can do it right and come back in 10 years. Depending on level of abuse that is.

Huh? You get 10 years out of a brake job? You must not drive a whole lot, (or have a car for each day of the week!) I consider myself very fortunate if I can get 18 months out of a set of brakes; which is usually between 20-25k miles.

 

[v8garage]

Back in the 1980's when asbestos problems were the constant subject of the news, a report came out that said that the asbestos fibers in brake dust was so small, that it didn't pose the same level of danger as most asbestos products. I spray the brake backing plates, shoes, springs and everything else with soapy water, and then rinse with a hose. I do my brake work in the driveway and not in an enclosed garage whenever possible. I take precautions, but I also consider the risk.

I don't understand why the brake dust fibers being small make them less of a danger. Seems to me that fine dust is easier to get airborne and more likely to breathed in.

 

[Identaltech]

being small is why asbestos fibers is dangerous
they get in your lungs and your lungs scar up and you cant breathe
why expose yourself more than you have to.

 

[Junkman]

Huh? You get 10 years out of a brake job? You must not drive a whole lot, (or have a car for each day of the week!) I consider myself very fortunate if I can get 18 months out of a set of brakes; which is usually between 20-25k miles.

I usually put about 1000 miles per year on my 1964 Chevy Corvair, so the brakes on that car should last the rest of my natural life. The same goes for my other antiques........... not many miles per year, and I use silicone brake fluid in all these cars, so I don't have to worry about moisture contamination.

I don't understand why the brake dust fibers being small make them less of a danger. Seems to me that fine dust is easier to get airborne and more likely to breathed in.

The report that I read, said that the fibers were broken down into such small particles, that they don't get caught in the lungs like normal asbestos fibers. Think of the fibers as straws getting caught sideways in a pipe. If the straws were cut into very small parts, then they couldn't get caught at all in the pipe. These small particles are not as dangerous as the bigger particles. I am not advocating being reckless, just pointing out that there are varying degrees of danger when it comes to asbestos and handling it. I have seen entire houses tented to remove the asbestos siding, but the asbestos siding is encapsulated in a material that doesn't shed the asbestos fibers. As with any hazardous material, common sense must prevail along with the precautionary actions.

 

[2drx4]

I had no idea any modern brake pads had asbestos in them. I was under the assumption that it was banned, and that was that.

I'll keep it in mind. I don't work on imports anyways, so that probably saves me half the problems right there. And I don't buy cheap off-shore brake parts either. Although, you never know when your expensive parts are actually just re-badged imported junk.

 

[bgott]

I know a few guys that get asbestosis checks. In their 70s, three pack a day smokers and when they die it doesn't ever seem to be from asbestosis. But their lawyers made a killing off those lawsuits. It probably isn't good for you to breath in any kind of small, friable particles but I'm not going to worry about asbetosis, hell, when I was in trade school they taught us that the proper way to do a drum brake job was to arc the brake shoes. That, for you youngsters, is when you use a special grinder to grind the shoes to match the drums. This was in the '70s. No mask for you or the rest of the people in the shop. So, I still blow brakes out with an air hose.

On Edit:The reason that I was given for the powers that be not outlawing asbestos brake and clutch imports is because Canada had a problem with it. It seems that they have a mountain that is made of the stuff and they make a substantial amount of money from export.