Crocidolite in gas mask filters

[SG500]

I've worked in the analytical side of the asbestos industry for over 20 years and part of the work we do is to survey buildings to find out where the asbestos is.
One of our surveyors found one of these on site the other day. Its a gas mask filter. Its fairly well documented that asbestos was used in some of the filters, well, we hit the jackpot with this one, it contains crocidolite (blue asbestos). The last photo shows the blue/grey asbestos fibres mixed with a non asbestos white coloured fibre.

If you've got one of these in your collection DON'T use it, there would be a really good chance you would breath in asbestos fibres.

Also DON'T try and take it to bits like we did. All the analysis we do is done inside a dust cabinet whereby all the dust is filtered.

Why are we worried about asbsetos? Well, in the UK alone between 10 and 15 people die each DAY from previous exposure to asbestos (the period from exposure to death varied between 15 and 60 years).

And now for the very worrying thing.............if you trawl the internet you can still find these filters for sale, 26 years after the sale of blue asbestos was banned in the UK!

I think I'll stick to collecting inert shells, much safer than gas mask filters.

Dave.

 

[millsbomber]

Once i found out about this i sold my collection of gas masks, Thanks for letting every one else know about these items,,,,,,, Dave

 

[Songun 4.25]

Don't panic. I bet more people in the UK are dying from secondhand smoking each day. As long as it is contained, asbestos poses no threat. Just don't use these filters or mess around with them, just as SG500 said.

 

[SG500]

Don't panic. I bet more people in the UK are dying from secondhand smoking each day. As long as it is contained, asbestos poses no threat. Just don't use these filters or mess around with them, just as SG500 said.

Yes you are right, don't panic BUT treat it with respect. There is no safe limit for the amount of asbestos you can breath in (there is a legal limit.....Mmmm...).
One of the highest risk groups of people out there at the moment are tradespeople - plumbers/carpenters/electricians who sometimes mistakenly cut through or drill through it without realising.
Dave.

 

[Bullet Mick]

Thanks for this SG500 ive got a number of gas masks in the old collection including british, german, french etc i will make sure they stay out of reach of the kids. Cheers Mick.

 

[peteblight]

We did a job a few years ago digging out some old pits full of nasties. In one of the pits were 100s of bags of powdered asbestos, apparently used in the 1950s for lagging pipes and as a fire retardant. Strangely enough i was wearing a gasmask whilst digging them out ;-)

Pete

 

[adammack]

Both Military and Civillian gas masks were assembled by Boots in Nottingham, although only the military ones contain crocidolite. Some plants were also set up in Montreal and Asbestos (Canada). The pattern was that of the Boots masks. The Boots workforce, some 1200 women, have been subject to scrutiny by the Medical Research Council (MRC) since the end of the war and have shown an increased rate of Mesothelioma.

 

[SG500]

We did a job a few years ago digging out some old pits full of nasties. In one of the pits were 100s of bags of powdered asbestos, apparently used in the 1950s for lagging pipes and as a fire retardant. Strangely enough i was wearing a gasmask whilst digging them out ;-)

Pete

I hope it was a really good "gasmask" you used when digging the pits out..........
Dave.

 

[SG500]

Both Military and Civillian gas masks were assembled by Boots in Nottingham, although only the military ones contain crocidolite. Some plants were also set up in Montreal and Asbestos (Canada). The pattern was that of the Boots masks. The Boots workforce, some 1200 women, have been subject to scrutiny by the Medical Research Council (MRC) since the end of the war and have shown an increased rate of Mesothelioma.

Thanks. For those of you who aren't aware, Mesothelioma is cancer of the lining of the lung and is almost exclusively caused by exposure to asbestos, in particular blue asbestos. Someone once told me its like drowning in wet cement.........:tinysmile_cry_t:

Dave.

 

[peteblight]

I hope it was a really good "gasmask" you used when digging the pits out..........
Dave.

It was! ;-)

Pete