I would think the grinding that happens inside the drum would turn it into a powder that could be inhaled, I've always been cautious around those old arai drum brakes.
On Fri, Dec 1, 2017 at 11:58 AM, Jean-François Caron jfcaron3@gmail.com wrote:
Hi everyone,
I recently came across a vendor selling a drum brake[1] where they claimed it had "No asbes" i.e. no asbestos. This led me to search about asbestos in bicycle brakes, and indeed it's a thing:
http://santanatandem.com/Library/AraiDBrakeIns.pdf (go to page 2, paragraph 4 in "Service")
The quantity is small and it's not friable, it's solid chunks (like old chemistry lab benches) which pose no actual hazard. Unless you are frequently overhauling these drum brakes with abrasives & sucking in the dust, the risk should be negligible, but it's good to know about.
If any shops out there have a bin for drum brakes, I'd suggest putting a warning label on it, or attaching a tag to the individual brakes if they are in a mixed bin.
Jean-François
[1] http://www.diacompe.com.tw/product/mlb-50/
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