[NJARC] ASBESTOS in old radios -- any suggestions?

[David Sica]

On Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:14:15 -0700 (PDT) john ruccolo <jr6v6gt at yahoo.com>
writes:
> Hi Folks,
> I was dismayed to find a layer of what appears to be asbestos (glued?)
to the wood under the chassis. What is the safest way to stabilize this
stuff? I
> think trying to remove it is a *bad* idea. Is there something I can
spray it with to "seal" it and isolate it? Maybe clear polyurethane?

John,

I held EPA hazardous material certification a number of years ago and
learned a bit about asbestos. You are on the right track: encapsulation
is usually the preferred method of dealing with asbestos. 

There are special solutions that can be used to accomplish this, but it's
a pretty low tech operation. Saturating it with liquid plastic should
work just fine. 

I would, however, be concerned that many places they felt a need to add
asbestos insulation (for example, next to a rectifier tube) would be
subjected to high heat. A coating of polyurethane on the asbestos might
not stand up too well to all that heat.  In those cases, if the asbestos
is in good condition, I would simply leave it alone. Asbestos is only
dangerous if its "friable", if the fibers are coming loose. If its a hard
sheet of asbestos that has not deteriorated, it should be safe to leave
it there. I have a couple of sets that had asbestos under the chassis
too. I can't imagine why it would be necessary there and I simply took it
out. 

Asbestos is safe to handle as long as its wet. If you want to remove it,
just wet the sheet with water and scrape it out. Rinse out the case to
get rid of any remaining loose fibers that would dry back out and become
a hazard to you later on. Last time I checked, a homeowner (but NOT a
business) could still legally dispose of asbestos in most places by
double bagging it and placing it out with the trash, but this never
struck me as a good idea. I take it and mix it with some leftover paint
and then let the paint dry. It's then "encapsulated" and much more
ecologically-friendly trash. 

(My nose is itching just writing this!)

--Dave