Control of the use of asbestos-containing friction materials

Our plain-English summary of Control of the use of asbestos-containing friction materials, by M.L. Bentley (The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 1970).

The study

• Author: M.L. Bentley
• Journal: The Annals of Occupational Hygiene
• Published: 1970;13(1):31-2
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy.

In plain English

This two-page paper was first presented at a 1969 conference on exposure to asbestos during brake and clutch maintenance. Its author worked at Mintex, a maker of friction materials. It was not a research study and reported no measurements. The author described how leading asbestos companies set up the Asbestosis Research Council to investigate asbestosis. The Council later formed an Environmental Control Committee, and one of its working groups (Small & Parkes, Ferodo and Mintex) dealt with friction materials. According to the author, the group's companies were taking dust counts where friction materials were handled and serviced and at customers' premises. They were also analysing dust from brake drums to learn whether all the fibrous dust was asbestos. No counts or analysis results were given. The group was preparing two codes of practice, one for bulk users in factories and one for people servicing brakes and clutches, and was looking for a surface-sealing agent for new linings. The author stated that the aim was to reduce asbestos dust to a safe level and noted that dust counts could not be taken in every service garage.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Descriptive conference paper by an industry author outlining the asbestos industry's research and dust-control activities; not a study with data
• Who was studied: Users of asbestos-containing friction materials in Britain: brake, clutch and car manufacturers, and the replacement and service field (service garages)
• Exposure: Asbestos dust from the manufacture, handling and machining of friction materials (brake and clutch linings); no fiber type is named
• Main results:
  • The author reported that dust counts during typical brake and clutch maintenance operations were being collected and that the work was continuing; no dust count figures were given
  • Dust from brake drums was being analysed to find out whether all the fibrous dust was asbestos; no results were given
  • The Working Group was preparing two codes of practice, one for bulk users in factory premises and one for people servicing brakes and clutches
  • A surface-sealing agent was being sought to reduce dust given off when handling a new lining, which the author described as already small; no data were given for this statement
• The authors' conclusion: The author stated that the aim of the Asbestos Regulations and the Council's work was to reduce asbestos dust concentrations to a safe level, and that the friction-material manufacturers' experience in dust control would let them recommend measures and equipment to users
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The author stated that dust counts could not be taken in every service garage, so the group's work dealt with situations likely to be typical of service garages

Related studies

• Possible alternatives to asbestos as a friction material — D. Hatch (1970)
• Environmental history of a factory producing friction material — J.W. Skidmore, B.L. Dufficy (1983)
• Application of sprayed inorganic fiber containing asbestos: occupational health hazards — W.B. Reitze, W.J. Nicholson, et al. (1972)
• Mortality among employees of an Ontario factory manufacturing insulation materials from amosite asbestos — M.M. Finkelstein (1989)
• Malignant mesothelioma among employees of a Connecticut factory that manufactured friction materials using chrysotile asbestos — M.M. Finkelstein, C. Meisenkothen (2010)
• Discovery and application of the Yoshida effect: nano-sized acicular materials enable penetration of bacterial cells by sliding friction force — N. Yoshida (2007)

Browse more research in The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, or return to medical research.