Asbestos in Automobiles

A detailed diagram of where Asbestos-Related Automotive Parts are found in automobiles.

For many decades, asbestos has been used by the automotive industry in brake pads and linings, clutch facings, and gaskets. Millions of these products still remain on vehicles currently in use today, which poses a severe risk of asbestos exposure to current and former auto mechanics across the country.

Breathing in asbestos dust can lead to asbestosis, lung cancer, and pleural mesothelioma, an aggressive and painful cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs. Mechanics do not develop these diseases until 15 to 50 years after their initial exposure to asbestos, so they may not realize the extent of the damage to their health. They may also have the mistaken concept that asbestos has been banned.

Millions of cars and trucks still have asbestos-containing brakes and clutches, which were routinely used in older vehicles. Also, imports of asbestos brakes have increased 83 percent over the past decade. And while it may come as a shock to most people, some brakes and clutches in production today are, in fact, still made with asbestos, just in smaller quantities than older brakes.

How Asbestos Exposure Occurs

When asbestos-containing materials are disturbed or damaged, they release a dust filled with microscopic asbestos fibers into the air. As a result, the very nature of brake and clutch functions causes continual abrasion, and this releases the imbedded asbestos fibers. A large portion of the toxic material is trapped inside the brake housing or clutch space, and is then released when replacement or repair work is performed.

Asbestos fibers can be further spread into the surrounding air by the vacuums used to clean the work area during and after the job. The fibers tend to linger in the air long after a job is done and can spread 75 feet from the work area, thus potentially exposing other mechanics and even customers who enter the shop. Airborne asbestos fibers are easily inhaled and can even be ingested if fibers get on hands and clothes. This is a particularly difficult problem for mechanics, since they often get grease on their hands and asbestos fibers can stick to the grease. Tragically, asbestos can even be carried home on workers' clothing, exposing their families to the hazardous material.

Asbestos-Related automotive Parts

Hoodliners - Over the past few decades, millions of vehicles have been manufactured with automotive hoodliners constructed from asbestos fibers. While asbestos is remarkably fire-resistant, it is also the leading cause of mesothelioma, an extremely deadly form of cancer.

Brakes - During normal automobile use, asbestos brake linings wear down through friction, releasing asbestos dust just as sanding wood creates sawdust. Much of this asbestos dust is trapped in the brake housing. When the brake housing is opened, that dust is released into the air where workers can inhale it or ingest it.

Clutches - Some clutch parts in use today both in new and older cars contain asbestos. During normal wear, the asbestos is ground down and may collect around the parts and in lutch compartments. When the disk, clutch cover, drum or wheel is removed, that dust may be released into the air where it can be inhaled or swallowed.

Gasket Material, Heat Seals, Valve Rings and Packing - For decades, asbestos-containing gaskets, heat seal material, valve rings, and packing were used in virtually every system that involved the transport of fluids or gases. Prior to the mid-1970s, some automobile exhaust systems contained asbestos gaskets either at flanges along the exhaust pipes or at the exhaust manifolds of the engine.

Hazardous Cleaning Techniques

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) advisory instructs mechanics to assume that all brakes contain asbestos because a mere visual inspection does not indicate which brakes include asbestos and which do not. The following brake cleaning techniques can result in the release of asbestos into the air and consequently may lead to employee exposure:

• Using a shop vacuum cleaner - a shop vacuum filter is not fine enough to collect asbestos fibers
• Using a compressed air hose to clean drum breaks
• Wiping with a dry rag or brushing dust from the assembly
• Wiping with a wet rag or brush - a wet rag will still scatter asbestos fibers (furthermore, once it dries, the fibers can still spread around the work area)
• Using liquid squirt bottles or solvent sprays
• Using a water hose

Asbestos Exposure Among Car Enthusiasts and Home Mechanics

Nonprofessional and home auto mechanics that repair or replace their own brakes or clutches are also in danger of exposure to asbestos and asbestos related illnesses. Rarely do people working on cars at their home take the proper precautions to prevent fibers from entering the home, which also poses a great risk to their families and pets. Many experts believe that exposure at home can be even more severe, as many auto enthusiasts are not in possession of tools used by most shops to make the jobs quicker and easier. This can lead to actions that further disturb asbestos, including repetitive strikes with a hammer to release the older product.

Deaths Expected to Rise

It is estimated that more than six million mechanics have been exposed to asbestos in brakes since 1940, and those exposures are now resulting in about 580 excess asbestos-related cancer deaths a year. Many analysts also believe that over the next 10 years, the expected rate of mesothelioma deaths as a result of exposure to break dust will reach 200 a year, acknowledging that for every mesothelioma case diagnosed there may be dozens of cases of asbestosis. Deaths caused by exposure to asbestos brake products had been previously expected to peak around the year 2012, however, because asbestos is still in some brakes being sold today, it could mean the deaths would continue to climb.

Safety Measures

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a detailed brochure that offers information regarding OSHA's regulations for commercial automotive shops concerning asbestos. The recommendations are separated into commercial automotive shops that perform more than five brake or clutch jobs per week, and those that perform less than five.

OSHA regulations require shops performing more than five brake or clutch jobs a week to use one of the following practices:

• Negative-Pressure Enclosure/HEPA Vacuum System Method: This kind of enclosure and vacuum system features a special box with clear plastic walls (or windows), which fits tightly around a brake or clutch assembly in order to prevent asbestos exposure.
• Low Pressure/Wet Cleaning Method: This specially designed low-pressure spray equipment wets the brake assembly and catches the asbestos-contaminated runoff in a special basin to reduce or prevent airborne brake dust from spreading.

For shops performing less than five brake or clutch jobs a week, the following method should be used:

• Wet Wipe Method: This method uses a spray bottle (or other device that can deliver a fine mist of water), or amended water (water with a detergent), at low pressure to wet all brake and clutch parts. These parts can then be wiped with a cloth.

For those who repair or replace their own brakes or clutches at home and have no way of knowing if the materials contain asbestos (as is the case in most instances), the EPA recommends having the job done at a commercial shop to avoid exposure. If this is not an option, the agency then recommends using the preventative measures required of commercial shops performing more than five brake or clutch jobs a week. If an individual lacks the professional equipment required, then the wet wipe method is recommended.

Companies That Manufactured or Sold Asbestos-Related Auto Parts

There are a number of companies that have manufactured and sold asbestos-contaminated auto parts. Many of the following companies shut down when the government banned asbestos parts in the 1980s, but since then a number of law suits have been filed as a result of asbestos exposure.

• Raymark Industries
• Federal Mogul
• LAS Replacement Parts, Inc.
• Austin Auto Parts Inc.
• Canton Auto Parts, Inc.
• Fisher Auto Parts, Inc.
• Forest CITY Auto Parts Company, Inc.
• G & T Auto Parts of Mid Orange, Inc.
• Genuine Parts Company
• Globe Foreign Auto Parts, Inc.
• L M Scanlon, Inc. (Individually and as Successor to SCANLONS' Auto Parts, Inc.)
• Potsdam Auto Parts, Inc.
• Ren Auto Parts
• Scanlonos Auto Parts, Inc.
• Companies Currently Being Sued:
• Pep Boys
• Advance Auto Parts
• AutoZone
• O'Reilly Automotive, Inc.
• Genuine Parts Co.
• Daimler Chrysler
• Ford Motor Company
• General Motors Inc.