On Sun, 20 Mar 2016 16:02:18 -0500, wrote:

On Sun, 20 Mar 2016 12:11:42 -0400, wrote:


Did you ever end up testing this insulation?
We just found the same thing in our 1952 bungalow
and are worried it might contain asbestos!


When in doubt - have it properly sampled & tested in a lab.
Get expert advice - on site.
Asbestos isn't always a problem - if kept undisturbed.
( keeping others from disturbing it is another challenge )
Removal is a job for professionals with all the proper training and
equipment.
I have seen asbestos in window caulk ; electrical panel-board ;
wall plaster & wall board ; floor tile backing ; JM siding ;
.. heard of it in ceiling tiles - I've not actually seen that one.
as well as all the usual places - pipe & duct insulation ; brake
shoes .. furnace, oven, heaters, etc
John T.


And the risk is highly over rated, so these "professional removal
companies" can make a fortune. It's been used in electrical devices for
decades and has harmed no one. Unless it's in a form where it turns into
a powder which can get in your lungs, it wont harm anyone. Touching it
with your skin is harmless. Vinyl Asbestos tile is harmless since it's
solid, (unless you sand the floor, or grind the tiles on a grinder).
Same for it being in caulk or siding. (except when you saw that siding).

A friend of mine sold his parents' beautiful house, built in the late
40's or 50's, and when he drove by he saw the men in white hazmat
suits removing the asbestos floor tile from the basement, and he
laughed. Cost 5 or 10,000. But they had little children and enough
money to buy this expensive house, so they were doing everything.

Auto brakes are ine instance where it *IS* dangerous, particularly when
replacing brakes, because all that fine dust is inside the brake drums.
From what I understand, asbestos has not been used in brake shoe linings
for at least a decade. That leads me to the question, "What are they
made out of now"? It's not plastic, not metal, not wood or anything else
that can be identified.... What is it?

Beef fat.