From: Jon Shoop (shoop19@brick.net)
Date: Fri Jan 17 2003 - 18:58:57 PST
You need to remember where the majority of these cases come from.
Pipe wrappers....steam pipes wrapped in the stuff....with little or no
ventilitaion..Like in the 30s and 40s in ship yards, deep in the bowels of
ships.....and buildings, rustling the stuff...installing it.....and being
engulfed in clouds of dust and no fresh air or ventilation.....
Constant exposure......
Jon
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paintball Plus" <pball@csionline.net>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003 5:20 PM
Subject: [MV] Asbestos and asbestosis
> Hi guys,
>
> It is asbestosis that you need to be concerned about. Not only is it
> found in older insulation, it is also in things like old brake pads (not
> used any longer in the US) that were commonly used by the military. The
> asbestos was ground into the brake drum, so not only the dust from the
> brakes were dangerous, so was the dust created from cutting the drums.
> It takes very little asbestos to become asbestosis in the lungs.
> However, it is not that easily encapsulated in the lungs unless the
> cells have been damaged by - you guessed it, smoking. And what
> percentage of mechanics smoked in the sixties and seventies? Silly
> question, as you could probably count the number who did not smoke on
> one hand. Non smokers needed considerably more exposure to asbestos than
> smokers, although those exposed to a great deal of "second hand smoke"
> had almost as much chance of developing asbestosis as the smokers did.
>
> Asbestos particles are micro particles, like little slivers of glass,
> and a common dust mask will not prevent them from passing into your
> lungs any more than if the mask was not even there. A HEPA (high
> efficiency particulate air) filter is required for the blocking of
> asbestos. In the eighties, the US military purchased special rolling
> booths that were large enough to pull the wheels and drums within this
> booth, and any excess dust wash vacuumed into a special container. It
> was also possible to wash the drum inside the booth. The old brake
> shoes were removed from the axle within the booth, as well. Special HEPA
> bags were used to dispose of the old shoes as hazardous waste. the
> systems were very expensive (10 - 30,000 dollars each) and were really
> not that effective. Eventually, brake shoes with asbestos were no longer
> used by the Military, and then any US Government agency.
>
> Once you get asbestosis or mesothelioma, which is a cancer caused by the
> asbestos in the lungs, there is no reversal of the process and the lungs
> become increasingly ineffective in exchanging oxygen for carbon dioxide
> in the blood. The rest is ............ history.
>
> As far as working on the trucks now, the chances of a truck having the
> original 30 year old brakes are probably pretty slim. My answer to the
> question is - I let someone else change the brakes.
>
> Bruce
>
> --
> Bruce Kalin
>
> USMC MTA
> MVPA
> North Jersey MTA
> South Jersey MVPA
>
> USMC M35A2C W/W
> M2 50 cal, TVS-2 Night Vision Scope
> M16 x 2
> RT-246, PRC-77, VIC/1
> Deep Water Fording Kit
>
> M105A2 w/ rust :-)
>
>
>
>
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