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TIL USA banned asbestos only in 2024
(en.wikipedia.org)
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this post was submitted on 05 Apr 2025
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It’s been banned in new construction for a long time I believe. What they recently banned was the niche use of it in industrial applications I believe. Which pretty much completely banned it
It's one of those materials that has an almost complete list of superb properties, with one overwhelming downside. It's cheap, abundantly available, completely fireproof and can be woven into fireproof cloth, adds enormous structural strength to concrete in small quantities, very resistant to a wide range of chemical attacks. It's just that the dust causes horrific cancers. See also CFCs, leaded petrol, etc, which have the same 'very cheap, superb in their intended use, but the negative outweighs all positives'.
One of the 'niche industrial applications' was the production of pump gaskets in high-temperature scenarios, especially when pumping corrosive liquids. We've a range of superalloys that are 'suitable' for these applications - something like inconel is an absolute bastard to form into shapes, but once you've done so it lasts a long time. But you still need something with similar properties when screwing the bits together. For a long time, there was no suitable synthetic replacement for asbestos in that kind of usage.
If you know that the asbestos is there, have suitable PPE and procedures, then IMHO it's far from the worst industrial material to work with. It's pretty inert, doesn't catch fire or explode, and isn't one of the many exciting chemicals where a single droplet on your skin would be sufficient to kill you. What is inappropriate is using it as a general-purpose building material, which is how it was used for so long, and where it was able to cause so much suffering for so many people.
The biggest problem with it is that the particles are so small that they can stay afloat for weeks without any airflow. They are just that light.
We were using it in aftermarket brake pads too...
Wouldn’t that generate a lot of floating particles of asbestos for anyone in the surrounding area?
Cars are literally death. Yes, asbestos is part of it.
You should see the auto shop guys cleaning out brake drums with an air hose and just spraying it all over the place without PPE.
How do we prevent aftermarket brake pads from catching fire now, then?
Thas a Lotta friction
EVs. Regenerative braking is no contact, not friction
Wonderful tech! Extremely dangerous and illegal to have without also having brake pads..
This reduces wear on brake pads. It doesn't eliminate the need for them.
Asbestos in brake pads was banned as a factory item for car manufacturers. No cars are allowed to come new with asbestos in the pads, it was a solved problem for a decade. It was allowed for replacement pads only(until last year when it was banned entirely).
Ok so how do they not catch fire without asbestos
Of course. As far as I know, every EV also has a normal brake pedal that operates normally using normal brake technologies.
The goal is to maximize regenerative braking since it is frictionless and recovers energy, while minimizing friction braking because it wastes energy, requires maintenance and pollutes.
EV drivers should expect double the life of their brakes, or more. Manufacturers also have incentive to maximize regenerative braking, since it directly increases the range of their vehicle at very little cost to them.
Allegedly, if there's asbestos in your workplace, it's better to leave it and not remove it. IE, in wall or ceiling paint
Asbestos in it's solid form is actually pretty harmless, and it has a huge amount of benefits. The downside is the particulates say in the air for days or weeks, and they cause horrific cancers.
Its really hard and expensive to get rid of asbestos safely, but it's pretty inert after it's actually installed somewhere.