[NJARC] Re: Asbestos in old radios

[David Sica]

On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 11:40:14 -0700 (PDT) john ruccolo <jr6v6gt at yahoo.com>
writes:
> One concern I have is -- *how* best to paint the
> asbesots? Seems to me the best way is to *brush* paint
> on, rather than spray paint, since it's less likely
> that fibers will be knocked loose. But maybe a very
> light spray paint applied over several coats is better
> than brushing.

Brushing would be the better choice since a brush full of sticky paint is
going to catch fibers not knock them loose, while a blast from a spray
can will definitely stir things up!

The key word is "saturate". As long as you saturate the fibers with a
liquid (paint or plastic) low enough in viscosity to soak in rather than
coat the surface, the fibers will be prevented from escaping into the
air. Even just coating the surface will protect you, but this will leave
an opportunity for future mishandling to free some of the unencapsulated
fibers inside the coat of paint. 

I liked the idea someone suggested about using manifold or stove paint
for heat resistance!

Don't be so afraid of this stuff that you would throw the radio out, just
be careful. And your life is half over by now anyway, so what are you
worrying about? :-)

--Dave