HI , can some one settle an argument please , is the stuff in the canister in a british civilian war time gas mask asbestosis please ? kind regards ,Michael.
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Not only in the british ones, also the Germans used it. At that time they didn't knew that it is dangerous. I remember Still in the 80's, my dad HAD to use Asbestos in Buildings for Fire Protection and on one Building he said he didn't wanted to use it because he heard it's dangerous but he had to by the Authorities. A Year later they came and said everything must go because it'S dangerous. Stupid, it cost a lot of money.Comment
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Hi Michael, many of the ladies who made these in Boots' factory in WW2 in Nottingham are suffering the effects. It is true about asbestos.
You can seal the filter with a solution of PVA glue as recommended by the IWM.
Cheers, Ade.Comment
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I gather there is a 10% plus fatallity rate associated with the ex-employees of the factory due to the asbestos.
Originally posted by Adrian Stevenson View PostComment
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gas masks
It is indeed my understanding that this is the case. Certainly that is what the doctors told my brother's mother-in-law when she became ill.
I was not aware of the IWM guidance on the filters but will certainly be looking into it
SteveComment
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When I was a kid we would buy paper bags full of asbestos powder - looked like grey flour - from the plumber's shop. Mixed with water it could be moulded and then hardened and was paintable. I recall making a volcano out of it for a school project. Then when I was 20-ish we heard it was 'very bad' and by the time I was 30 a team in full 'haz mat' suits spent weeks pulling it out of the walls and crawl spaces in the school where I taught. [ It was used as insulation around hot water pipes.]
The material has microscopic threads, like the fibres in fibre glass, which collect in and scar the lungs. I would think anyone with asbestos in an old mask would want to either dispose of it or seal it in plastic, but I'm sure there is good advice on exact measures out there.
And Canada still sells it to India, where it is moulded into fire-proof, water-proof, rot-proof roofing sheets! Cheap, convenient and potentially deadly. Of course at the factory its worked on in sealed rooms by workers inrespirators but in the real world it is cut with hand tools and, presumably, the dust gets inhaled. But the Canadian government refuses to stop selling it because it keeps 200 or 300 workers in the mines in Asbestos, Quebec employed! Makes me ashamed, a rare thing, to say I'm Canadian.
PeterComment
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Hi Nico, here is the IWM statement on respirators:
British gas masks of the Second World War pose a problem today, as many incorporated asbestos (both blue and white) within their filters. Although relatively safe when new, the asbestos may now be starting to break down, and might be expelled from the filters, especially if they are damaged or if the mask is tried on and air is drawn through the filter.
For these reasons it is not recommended that old gas masks are ever put on, by anyone. Handling may also pose some threat.
The Imperial War Museum has chosen to seal the filters on all its suspect gas masks, whether on display or used in handling collections. This stops them functioning but does not change their outward appearance
They used to offer sealing advice, but this is now not online. But as I mentioned before. You mix a solution of PVA glue and pour this into the filter element to seal it.
Cheers, Ade.Comment
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I was talking to a contractor we use and he said it was still in use in the UK until 1995 !!Comment
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If you don`t disturbe the asbestos it would be ok. You can get cancer from it. If you breath the fiber parts from it you have a change to get cancer. In Holland its since the 80ties forbidden to use it. My house roof is made from asbestos plates. It isn`t harmfull till you move it or break it in parts so that the little parts become airborne and get in your lungs. So dont put the mask on and thry to breath. If you leave it alone and put it on a shelf its not harmfull.
JeroenComment
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This problem affects a lot of gasmasks from that time frame and from many different countries. Luckily most filters are well made and don't lose fibers randomly and be honest, you have to be dumb to breath trough a filter that old, not only for asbestos but also because the filter can be laced with fungi. But asbestos isn't the only problem, besides fungi there was also the Chromium V issue with filters from the 50's and 60's. Not only the British and German filters have asbestos in them but also the Belgian filters from that time frame. And I suspect that the Czech and American filters have the same problem. But as long as the filters are intact and you don't breath trough them all is fine. I have just over 300 different gasmasks in my collection, many of them from the WWII era and I don't have any problems with them.Comment
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Originally posted by Uncle Goose View Post
Check out this website Click on Asbestos in Gas Masks (I own this site it is my collection)
www.gasmasksrule.webs.com
The british and the germans used white asbestos the Australians used blue asbestos and the French and the Czech Republic used a type of Fibre board the Russians used white asbestos also I think. the russians used asbestos all the way untill around the 70's. the british civilian and british civilian duty gas mask both have asbestos at the botom and later had a green arsines filter attached wich also had Asbestos in it later countries would use Silver to filter out arsines. The usa did use Asbestos wich you will see proof of on my website.
the gas masks I would reccomend not to get is the following
ww2 USA M1A2-1-1 Civilian gas mask (nothing holding it back)
ww2 British civilian gas mask (fibres come out very easy)
ww2 british civilian duty gas mask (Fibres come out very easy)
Thanks
-GasMasksRule-Last edited by MilitariaColl45; 08-05-2011, 01:50 AM.Comment
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