image: EPA
Asbestos and Vermiculite
IF YOU ARE A HOME MECHANIC READ THIS: I"ll bet you thought they were all asbestos free didn't you!
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If you need more information on this subject, call the listed Press Officer.

Release: (Washington, D.C.)

New EPA Asbestos Brochure Targets Auto Mechanics

Contacts: (Media only) PRESS OFFICER Dale Kemery, (202) 564-4355 /

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(Other inquiries) Robert Courtnage, (202) 566-1081 /

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EPA has released a new brochure that provides health and safety information for professional and do-it-yourself mechanics who may work with asbestos-containing automotive components. Current Best Practices for Preventing Asbestos Exposure Among Brake and Clutch Repair Workers emphasizes the need to prevent asbestos fibers from escaping into the air during repair work.

While it is impossible to tell if clutch and brake components contain asbestos, the booklet advises that mechanics should automatically assume the possible presence of asbestos. The booklet emphasizes the warning against blowing dust from brakes and clutches with compressed air. It also details three recognized methods for containing asbestos dust in a professional automotive shop.

[If your Rep is a real Rep have him guide OSHA and EPA in writing regulations to help you find out if you might be breathing asbestos-- but if he is the wrong kind of Rep, don't hold your breath.]

The booklet provides a list of do's and don'ts for do-it-yourself mechanics. They include using pre-ground, ready-to-install parts and not taking work clothing inside the house to prevent exposing family members to asbestos dust.

The brochure is available on the EPA asbestos Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/pubs/brakesbrochure.html

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FOLKS, MY COMMENTS are mixed herein, but you can probably pick them out!

[I sure do not want to belittle the fine effort these people are makin' to make it look like progress!!! Those kind of comments. You know.]

Current Best Practices for Preventing Asbestos Exposure Among Brake and Clutch Repair Workers

On April 2, 2007 EPA released the final brochure entitled:

Current Best Practices for Preventing Asbestos Exposure Among Brake and Clutch Repair Workers. The brochure is intended to provide information for automotive professionals and home mechanics on preventing exposure to brake and clutch dust that may contain asbestos fibers. Read more background information and highlights | en español

April 2007

Table of Contents

Who can this information help?

What is asbestos and how can it cause health problems?

Why should mechanics be concerned about asbestos exposure?

How do I know if I have asbestos brake or clutch components?

As a professional automotive technician, what work practices must I follow to reduce potential exposures to asbestos?

As a home mechanic, what can I do to protect myself from asbestos exposure?

How do I dispose of waste containing asbestos?

Where can I get additional information?

(got to the site and print this! Print Version of this brochure (2 pp., 151K) About PDF)

As a home mechanic, what can I do to protect myself from asbestos exposure?

Most writers are/are not practical people? If you are not, skip this section.

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.

BUT IF YOU ARE A STRUGGLING WRITER OR READER:

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, bevelled, 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.

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AS A PRO:

Who can this information help?

This information can help professional automotive technicians and home mechanics who repair and replace brakes and clutches.

Well, By law, most professional automotive shops must follow the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) regulations at 29 CFR 1910.1001 and specifically paragraph (f)(3) and Appendix F. These are mandatory measures that employers must implement for automotive brake and clutch inspection, disassembly, repair, and assembly operations. State and local governments with employees who perform brake and clutch work in states without OSHA-approved state plans must follow the identical regulations found under the EPA

(If your boss is being difficult call OSHA,(quietly) or have a heart-to-heart talk with him. Get him fixed-up.)

Asbestos Worker Protection Rule (2 pp., 53.3K, About PDF). While home mechanics are not required to follow the OSHA work practices (or the identical requirements under the EPA Asbestos Worker Protection Rule), by using these practices home mechanics can minimize potential exposure to asbestos if it is present and thereby reduce their risk of developing any asbestos-related diseases.

What is asbestos and how can it cause health problems?

Asbestos, a naturally occurring mineral fiber that is highly heat resistant, can cause serious health problems when inhaled into the lungs.

If products containing asbestos are disturbed, thin, lightweight asbestos fibers can be released into the air.

Persons breathing the air may breathe in asbestos fibers. Continued exposure can increase the amount of fibers deposited in the lung. Fibers embedded in the lung tissue over time may result in lung diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer, or mesothelioma. It can take from 10 to 40 years or more for symptoms of an asbestos-related condition to appear. Smoking increases the risk of developing illness from asbestos exposure.

[Conan sidekick: You want to live forever?]

[or just till the kids get old enough to take care of you like you did them. . .? With what goes now?]

For more information on the health effects of asbestos exposure, visit the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

[See what you can find out about Libby, Montana. A Republican town! And W.R. Grace]

Why should mechanics be concerned about asbestos exposure?

Because some, but not all, automotive brakes and clutches available or in use today may contain still contain asbestos, professional automotive technicians and home mechanics who repair and replace brakes and clutches may be exposed to asbestos dust.

(Well, it isn't the fault of the Line-EPA or OSHA guys, it is has been the "brakes" (asbestos free) applied by the Current administration, and largely with Congressional help, trying to make a a few extra bucks. Your health? Ah, this stuff takes so long we can out last you, especially with good old business operated Courts. Check it out.) Yeah. That is my comment--lp

Brake and clutch dust can be seen when a brake disk, drum, clutch cover, or the wheel is removed from a car, truck, or other equipment. There are also many small dust particles that cannot be seen with the eye. If the brakes contain asbestos, the dust may contain asbestos fibers, which could be inhaled.

How do I know if I have asbestos brake or clutch components?

You cannot tell whether brake or clutch components contain asbestos simply by looking at them. For newer vehicles and parts, auto manufacturers, auto parts retailers and packaging information, such as labels or Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), may be able to tell you whether or not your brake or clutch components contain asbestos. For older vehicles,or vehicles that have had brakes replaced, you may not be able to easily find out if the brake or clutch components contain asbestos.

[Les Porter's note: This is a step forward! This is an area industry has fought to keep information about asbestos from being easily available and one in which both OSHA and EPA just need to write the regulations to ensure the data sheets are with the product, or clearly on the outside of the box when new ones are purchased! "Warning! These parts contain asbestos!" Make you choose parts carefully! Wouldn't it?]

As a best practice, OSHA states that mechanics should assume that all brakes have asbestos-type shoes. Worn non-asbestos-type brakes cannot be readily distinguished from asbestos-type shoes. If a mechanic assumes incorrectly that a shoe is a non-asbestos type and fails to utilize brake dust control procedures, increased asbestos exposure may result.

As a professional automotive technician, what work practices must I follow to reduce potential exposures to asbestos?

[Does the boss need to know about these things?]

If you work in a commercial automotive shop that performs work on more than five brake or clutch jobs per week, OSHA regulations require the use of one of the following work practices or an equivalent method such as the spray can/solvent system:

Negative-Pressure Enclosure/HEPA Vacuum System Method: This type of enclosure and vacuum system has a special box with clear plastic walls or windows, which fits tightly around a brake or clutch assembly to prevent asbestos exposure.

Low Pressure/Wet Cleaning Method: This specially designed low-pressure spray equipment wets down the brake assembly and catches the runoff in a special basin to prevent airborne brake dust from spreading in the work area.

If you work in a commercial automotive shop that performs work on no more than five brake or clutch jobs per week, OSHA regulations allow the following method instead:

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.

Other links:

http://www.latesting.com/index.cfm?nav=Services&action=list&ServiceCategoryID=10
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