asbestos?
 

So I'm removing the insulation from the roof of my 67 GTO, and I'm wondering if it has any asbestos in it. Anybody have any clues?

Um this is a good question, and I already removed my 67 to bare metal. I ate enough of the fowel tasting stuff to last a life time. Which, now that I read this could not be all that long. Oop's !!

PS post your findings.

Mike

Even worse firewall insulation? Had plenty of both.

Asbestos is for high/extreme heat exposure...the headliner insulation is compressed paper board material...nothing that can harm you except dust.

Not only that; who cares? The people who got sick from asbestos were the workers who breathed clouds of it 8 hours a day for 20 years. Incidental exposures like one would get in a situation like this are trivial.

WHAT????According to NIOSH Publication#97-162(page 25):"ALL levels of exposure studied to date have demonstrated asbestos -related disease".And how about this:"THERE IS NO LEVEL OF ASBESTOS EXPOSURE below which clinical effects do not occur."
In addition,even though the EPA has set a limit of .1 fibers per cc of air as a PEL(pemissible exposure limit),they do NOT claim this level is safe,just an attainable target for regulatory purposes.The federal gov't has numerous regulations in place concerning how to limit exposure of workers FAMILY MEMBERS concerning showering,laundry,etc.Your risk of asbestos-related disease greatly increases if you smoke(much more so than asbestos exposure or smoking by itself.)And,of course,the amount of exposure,and time of exposure,will also increase the risk.On the bright side,the asbestos compound used in automobile insulation was PROBABLY of the serpentine type,and not the amphibole type,which may be less harmful.But it never hurts to PROTECT YOURSELF.

This is not neccesarily true(I am not saying that it is not true,however.)Asbestos was WIDELY used in alot of materials in the 60's and 70's,including paint,drywall,various types of insulation,and many other materials,not just high-heat applications.

While on the subject of safety, I should point out, if you still have the original paint, it will contain lead. Take this in consideration before you grind it off with a stripping pad.

[QUOTE=paint guy;3768553]WHAT????According to NIOSH Publication#97-162(page 25):"ALL levels of exposure studied to date have demonstrated asbestos -related disease".

Trivial exposures have not been studied, and can't be studied because adequate statistical power to detect differences would make such a study untenable. Epidemiological studies over long time are the only ways to get a clue on this kind of thing; this approach is useful to then start direct studies. The statement "THERE IS NO LEVEL OF ASBESTOS EXPOSURE below which clinical effects do not occur" smacks of the absurdity of "one molecule will kill you", whereas the operative rule in the real world is "the dose makes the poison." Thanks for the NIOSH reference. Is the absurd quote from it as well?

All that said, I agree with your statement that it never hurts to protect yourself.

When I scraped it off the roof of my 68 I wore a cartridge type filter for some peace of mind. It was nasty stuff. My arms were just coated with it. It breaks down to very fine particles. Really the dirtiest job I did on the whole car and that includes sandblasting the underbody and spraying undercoat on it all while lying on my back.

Yes,the statement"There is no level of asbestos exposure below which clinical effects do not occur"is also a direct quote from that same NIOSH publication.Whether the statement is absurd or not is a matter of conjecture.However,your statement that"the people who got sick from asbestos were the workers who breathed clouds of it 8 hours a day for 20 years"is,at best,tremendously misleading as there are MANY documented cases of asbestosis,mesothelioma,etc. contracted by people who have had only minor,"trivial" exposure.Included in this statement is a fellow former co-worker of mine who contracted disease attributed to exposure which consisted of(at least at work)opening 2-4 50lb bags of asbestos daily in a ducted mixing operation for approx 3 years(hardly 8 hrs/day for 20)I assure you,once he got sick,he did not consider his exposure "trivial."Don't care to argue the validity of the existance of regulatory agencies,discuss Mencken or delve into any other political argument with you,but do wish that when there is an opportunity to protect oneself from a known carcinogen such as asbestos by doing something as simple as wearing a respirator,it wouldn't get treated "trivially" by posting "who cares?"Thank you.

Thanks for the reasoned reply to my admittedly flippant and somewhat inflammatory comment.

The statement I labeled as absurd really strains credulity as quoted, but I'll read the publication so I can see it in context. Your coworker's exposure was obviously not trivial.

I think its always best to wear a dust mask when removing materials that cause dust, who knows what will be deemed bad for us 30 years from now.I hear some people call fiberglass the new asbestos .

Hey this thread is worthless without pics!!
To bad the one of my arm is not focused well, the way the fine granuals stuck to my hair really made it look thick.

Ran across this old thread and wanted to inform others what I found after having the roof insulation/sound deadener tested at an asbestos lab. Good news. No asbestos was detected.

That is good news, thank you.

Thanks for the updated info. On a related note, be especially careful when sanding or cutting carbon fiber products. Avoid exposure to eyes, skin and respiratory system. It's really, really bad stuff. I learned this from a co-worker who is GM trained and certified in Corvette repairs.

I was doing some removal of this today too, and you're right - it gets on everything. I have to patch the roof, and figured I better remove it a couple inches around the area to be patched. I'm curious how flammable this is if I did some welding there. I would just tack it and cool it with the air compressor. I figured if I take my time I should be ok, but I've never worked with this type of material before.

Cover the floor with plastic, Use a garden sprayer filled with water to wet it and then scrape it off.
Or course always wear a respirator, not just a mask.
Keeps the dust factors near zero.
JM2C Cheers.