asbestos in older Dichroic enlargers?

[hoffy]

Howdy,

I was doing a small repair on my old dichroic enlarger and noticed a small fibre cement type washer through which the cable runs.

Now, considering the age of the enlarger (more then likely from the early to mid 70's), can anyone confirm or deny whether these were or contained asbestos?

Cheers

[Paul Goutiere]

What enlarger do you have??Can you post a picture of the washer? Some components were made of fiberglass and resin.

[hoffy]

Its a durst M300 with a CLS35 head. I am pretty sure that it is a small insulating washer that would more then likely contain asbestos. It looks like cement fibre board, which in Australia at least, always contained an amount of asbestos. I was always under the impression that asbestos was pretty dangerous (1 fibre CAN but may not cause cancerous growth, was what I was always told), but as long as I am careful, I should be able to get rid of it.

[BetterSense]

I wouldn't worry about it anyway. Asbestos is not polonium. It won't kill you to touch the stuff. After it had been around everywhere for decades, people discovered that it wasn't a great idea to breath large amounts of particles in for long amounts of time. If the washers are asbestos it's nothing I would worry about.

[hoffy]

Yeah, I know its probably an over reaction. I panic sometimes as I have known a few people who contracted asbestosis through the industries I have worked in. (I used to work with an old bloke who scared the living crap out of me one day about asbestos....it was a conversation that I will never forget). The thing is the little washer is breaking up, so its probably just easier to snip the wires, dump it, give it a clean down and be done with it.

Cheers

[Allen Friday]

I wouldn't worry about it anyway. Asbestos is not polonium. It won't kill you to touch the stuff. After it had been around everywhere for decades, people discovered that it wasn't a great idea to breath large amounts of particles in for long amounts of time. If the washers are asbestos it's nothing I would worry about.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. I know because my father died from mesothelioma, the only know cause of which is asbestos. While you don't want to overreact, you don't want to be exposed to it either. Exposure is not being in the same room with it, it means having the fibers in the air where you can breath them into your lungs. The fibers then pass through the lungs and embed in the lining. It can then eventually lead to cancer. "Toughing the stuff" will release the fibers into the air where you can breath them in. So, BetterSense, you might want to exercise better sense when dealing with asbestos. People do die from exposure to it, even small amounts.

[J Rollinger]

Dont worry about it! When i was younger i was employed as a remover for the school system here in Illinois and learned allot about it. For you to get affected you would have to be installing or removing it for 15 to 20 years 8 hours a day. I had to sign a release before my employment began and it stated that it will take 15 years to develop if i was exposed at high levels every day. I worked for one year scraping it from school ceilings and ripping it from duct work 10 hours a day and i didnt even use my mask that was required by the company, that was 25 years ago. If you have an older home with 8 or 9 inch floor tile then they are most likely Asbestos and by law you dont even have to remove them, you can just put another floor over it.

[Kirk Keyes]

I was always under the impression that asbestos was pretty dangerous (1 fibre CAN but may not cause cancerous growth, was what I was always told), but as long as I am careful, I should be able to get rid of it.

That's a reasonable assessment. The others that say it takes a lifetime of exposure are uninformed.

That's said, I've used asbestos in a laboratory setting, and I'm not overly concerned about the exposure I've had with it.

It's not legal for you to personally dispose of asbestos in the USA. You would need to have a professional do it.

That said, I would wet the fibers with water to keep them from becoming airborne as you remove the item. I'd then place them in plastic wrap and tape it closed and then dispose of it that way.

[Steve Smith]

Encapsulate it in silicon sealant.


Steve.

[resummerfield]

Encapsulate it in silicon sealant.


Steve.

Exactly. It's just a little washer, after all. Don't clip any wires, because that may just bring on more problems. Just smear a little silicon sealant on it, to both encapsulate it and protect the wiring, and be done with it.