Chinese Car Asbestos Scare

'Scare' seems to be the key word here.
Sounds like a massive over reaction to me.
It's hardly on a par with having classroom ceilings insulated with asbestos.
Del

The question is worthy, but we often get into 'China bashing' mode on CR4. Off the top of my head, I can't think of current UK issues, but I'm sure there is to be found (mostly compensation claims).

This will be an interesting thread if we can all come up with some similar stuff that is 'home grown'. A lot of buildings in Blighty contain asbestos, and it's a horror to replace. The stuff hides in the most unlikely of places.

No intent to offend - this has the potential to be a very good discussion. Why is it used, how is it removed, what ere the alternatives. Endless questions that probably affect all people.

Excellent question, Bob.

I am presently watching a building, built in the 1960's, being remediated for occupancy by a university in my fair city. I'm not privy to the cost, but will hazard a guess that it is around $500,000.00USD to do this.

My point is that if asbestos is firmly captured in place and cannot be broken, turned into a powder and breathed, it isn't much of a health hazard.

Perhaps the application of some common sense is called for here.

it only takes one fragment of dust to start mesothelioma

its incurable

and it only takes earth tremors to dump the dust from roof cavities down to where occupants are living , a tradesman disturbing the dust , or a bored kid bouncing a ball on the ceiling

the laws exist to control the uncontrollable outcome of risk exposure

I must be very lucky for as mechanic I used to blow out the asbestos dust from brake drums and clutches and handleled same when relining clutch plates an brake shoes.....and I have been smoking for 57 jears. No problems with my lungs jet! The roof that I put on my house is also asbestos canadian pattern.

I still wonder why people are so scared of anything.

I also remember having to wash the brake dust off of my hands and face before lunch or going home. At that same time frame, firefighters were not convinced that self contained breathing masks were "manly".

And, cars had generators, points and updraft carburetors. Times change.

I don't know about it being a scare just a violation of trust and laws in most develop countries.

I know I tinkered with cars as a young man most had asbestos parts similar to those in question. Then we were not knowledgeable of the hazards. Contact with dust created was mostly brake dust. It was usually washed away with chemical sprays that are now also gone as a cancer causing agent.

I live thru it, most likely quite a few of you have done the same.

Big issue here is the Chinese Manufacture say it wasn't there. Will put a hurt on them entering the US market that they have been looking at.

In this country, the rule is: If you don't disturb installed asbestos, leave it alone. Only when you cut into it and fibers spread is it required to remove it. This is true at least in the shipbuilding industry. I think when it comes to schools, they may require it all to be removed, damaged or not. The asbestos gaskets wouldn't pose much of a danger to the owner/driver of the car, but it would be to car mechanics.

The exhaust gaskets contained asbestos; was there anyplace else ? What about the brake linings. They all used to be asbestos.

Funny how; when you replace the "r" in Chery with a "v", it is the name of an American car.

More importantly which form of asbestos are they using?

Only one form of its considered cancer causing and even then you have to have prolonged exposure to it. Such as working in a building packed with literally tons of it in blown in fiber form.

Exhaust manifold gaskets only contain a few tens of grams and the word contains is the key.

The driver is far more likely to die form carbon monoxide poisoning from the exhaust system eventually rusting out and leaking than is of asbestos induced cancer from the exhaust gasket.

To me this just sounds like more idiotic politics based on the whims of clueless uneducated half wit do gooders with too much time on their hands.

Remain calm, there is a big difference between the local disposal of asbestos-impregnated gaskets and, say, asbestos dust flying at you whenever you turn on the vehicle air conditioning system.

You would have a hell of a time actually trying to seriously harm or kill yourself with the parts in question, it would be easier to just set some of the vehicle plastics on fire and inhale the fumes instead (both of which have carcinogenic properties).

This does not appear to be a safety issue, rather a legal issue due to asbestos being a (now) prohibited substance. Like lead in microchips any claims of mass hysteria-level safety concerns are seriously overstated or just plain misleading journalism.

Just ruined my last pair of asbestos grundies....

So, are you saying that industrial materials containing any asbestos are unavailable in the Antipodes now?

From a report on the same story;

A spokesman for Customs said the Customs Act prohibited importation of all forms of asbestos.

"All Australian states and territories also prohibit the supply, sale, use and re-use of all forms of asbestos under domestic legislation," he said.

A penalty of up to $110,000, or three times the value of the goods (whichever is greater), applies if a company is found to have breached the regulations. If the total value of the gaskets in each vehicle affected by the recall is just $20, the fine could be $3 million.

Will the penalty be based on the gasket cost alone or the full change process I wonder?

The technicians performing the recall amelioration would be obliged to wear hermetic Hazmat suits in a negatively pressurised environment with airscrubbers...

The cars would have to be hosed down to eliminate all asbestos remnants, the waste from all these measures and activities would need to be contained and the whole facility buried under a 4 metre thick concrete slab extending 500m beyond the boundaries when it was all over.

A 6metre high solar powered electrified fence would prevent access for the next 100 years or until they needed a new Olympic venue.

Ear plugs and hard hats on at all times too.

Sadly, and this is by no means "China bashing" this is indicative of a global problem we will all be dealing with very soon. Psychologically China is a child race. I know, I know, oldest civilization, culture etc. yadda yadda.

The problem is they have never been able to meld into the world society, hence the wall and the centuries of isolationism. This has created a culture that does not think in global terms or have any concept of the effects of their actions on others because - simply put, they never have had to before.

We will see more of this kind of thing (melamine, lead paint etc.) along with tremedous polution and massive contributions to greenhouse gasses as they ramp into the industrial age from the agricultural one. They will not be inclined to listen to the world as we ask then tell them to clean it up and stop poluting. (Beijing olympics) This will be an issue for the next few decades and we will have to deal with the damage that will be done to the world as both China and India grow.

I hold more hope for the Indian subcontinent as they are more familiar with the concept of being part of a global society.

On a more humorous note. I am going to be laughing my arse off the day the ruling party decides they have had enough "Western" influence and declare GE and all the other companies "state owned" and simply take them over. Communist governments have a long track record of doing that sort of thing.

Just sayin.......

A small amount of asbestos clamped between two exhaust manifold flanges may not pose a health threat to you, but it definitely would be a threat to the workers in China who are processing the asbestos. Are the import regulations in effect to protect you or to protect asbestos workers by discouraging the mining of asbestos?

It's the whole supply chain, "blood diamond" sort of thing that the regs are out to control.

That's what happens when you buy junk from thieves and gangsters.

err.....how did early settlers get to Oz ?

Read "Death by China" by Peter Navarro, a University of California at Irvine economics professor, CNBC, CNN and NPR contributor and noted China business expert. He paints a frightening picture of Chinese corruption and U.S. complacency.

They walked, with their dogs, over the landbridge from Asia more than 40000 years ago.

lol - you know what I meant