Asbestos exposure

[12jslater]

I have used my car without a gearbox cover and the clutch pit cover missing, would have any notable amounts of the asbestos clutch material come out as a dust into the car itself? I've just replaced the clutch pit cover with a sheet of metal and a thin covering of gasket maker.

I have only driven the car a few miles like this, setting off from a few junctions, traffic lights and slipped the clutch quite a bit when driving the car onto the ramps which is when I imagine most if any dust would be released.

[Howard Wright]

Hi

Is it likely that the clutch has been replaced in the last 30 years.  If so the clutch linings would not have been asbestos.

Your precautionary temporary covers are good but why not replace the covers with genuine ones?

Cheers

Howard

[Chris KC]

No - I wouldn't worry about it.

[12jslater]

Well i didn't think it'd be too bad however as I'm 19 and the earlier the exposure the greater the risk, I don't mind asbestos in head gaskets and similar things as they give off almost no fibers after being wet with water.

However the clutch would generate very small airborne fibers, the dangerous type.

[circeonya@hotmail.com]

Asbestos disease is a lottery, anyone over the age of fifty has had considerable exposure to Abestos yet not everone gets the diseases. I have heard that those affected, just on fibre could have been the culprit. Everyones mum had an Asbestos mat for her stovetop, then building products like ceramic tile underlays, laundry walls and anywhere there was hot water piping there was Asbestos lagging. For those who worked on their cars what did they do when they had a brake drum off? they huffed and puffed to blow the asbestos dust away or if lucky enough to have a compressor it would be the air hose. Personally I was shocked when I learned the risks, They were a closely guarded secret until the Seventies, I had just cut up some old AC roofing with a hacksaw. I always workrd on my own cars as well as used AC underlay many times. At age 83 I still worry about it but so far so good.

[Tony Griffiths]

"White" (chrysotile) asbestos requires long-term exposure to cause harm, the real danger comes from "brown" and the deadly "blue" types - which we are very unlikely to encounter. Incredibly, "blue" was used in some cigarette filter papers in the 1950 and early gas masks.
Asbestos is still mined, the makers claiming that, as it's encapsulated in a dense structure it's entirely harmless (unless you break it apart and inhale it as a subsitute for cocaine of course....)
Tons to worry about online (and some people have made a fortune from talking up the risk). Put your mind at rest: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/asbestosis/ 
or get worried: https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/why-...04.article

[Bob Culver]

Quite apart from those directly manufacturing asbestos products, the involvement of many tradesmen into the 70s was very considerable.; city roadside dust contained considerable brake lining material. The rate of abrasion of the giant diameter Seven linings is very low.
Steering arms pose the primary risk for many.
As with motorcycles, the safety aspects of small old cars do not stand much scrutiny

[Chris KC]

Don't ever 'work' on asbestos parts (by which I mean sanding, sawing, machining) or blow out asbestos dust (e.g. from brakes) with an airline. But exposure from driving the car - even with covers removed - and even if it still has asbestos in it somewhere - is negligible.