Leon Speed

I noticed that PET has several gasket versions, "regular" and asbestos-free. As I'm scraping off old gaskets, water pump, coolant bridge, rear coolant caps, I am wondering: am I working in an asbestos cloud here? I do use a mouth and nose protector and vacuum up the old gasket bits as I work. So, anybody know when non-asbestos gaskets were introduced?

borland

The use and prohibition of asbestos varies by country. Most asbestos gaskets and brake liners were eliminated by the mid 1990's. It is a naturally occuring mineral, so some areas may have it airborne just from traffic on dirt roads.

My '90 S4 had the original asbestos water pump gasket and pump when I bought it in 2002. It still has the original asbestos gaskets on the rear cylinder head coolant jacket covers.

If your not sure, don't use any dust producing methods like dry sanding to remove the old gasket material. Instead, carefully scrape it off with a razor blade.

bradartigue

If you use a mouth and nose protector then you are doing more than 99.99999999999999999% of the people working on cars of any age today.

Keep in mind that an "asbestos" gasket isn't made of asbestos. Is contains some asbestos, usually about 10% or less. It is a wonderful insulator and is as fireproof as stone. While you shouldn't be snorting the stuff, you'd need exposure to quite a bit to hurt you. People who became ill from exposure (and their families, too, from transmission of the stuff because the worker would wear it home on their clothes) worked with lots of it for years and years, sometimes in 100% exposure conditions. You scraping a gasket, wearing a mask, and vacuuming into a sealed box, are more likely to get sick from the mold in your mask.

SteveG

If you have ever seen the results of mesothelioma, you won't care how much is a little or a lot. My friend got it from ingesting asbestos off his dad's pant legs when he was a kid. Literally, they think his dad probably bounced the child on his leg (seated) when he got home from his job as a pipe fitter.

depami

You should NOT vacuum asbestos! Concrete dust either! The vacuum will put more harmful dust into the air than you possibly could by scraping, brushing or sanding.

Leon Speed

I was about to say, I feel a lot safer. Oh well.

depami

I’m sure you’re fine.

The chunks were probably large enough that nothing got through the vacuum.

But as a rule of thumb, DON’T vacuum asbestos, brake pad dust, concrete dust, etc.

Leon Speed

That's what I was thinking too. But thanks for the warning, can't be too careful with this stuff.