Asbestos in early RCA Electrolas

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rvwenger
Victor I
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Re: Asbestos in early RCA Electrolas

Post by rvwenger »

I read they used asbestos as the snow in the ending scenes of White Christmas.....

HisMastersVoice
Auxetophone
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Re: Asbestos in early RCA Electrolas

Post by HisMastersVoice »

Asbestos was indeed used as artificial snow in the 30s, 40s & 50s, and was later replaced by mica. The snow scene in the Wizard of Oz was also asbestos. This would be an example of a dangerous use of the material. You can often find unopened boxes of the stuff on eBay, but I don’t recommend sprinkling it on your Christmas tree this year.
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Victrolacollector
Victor V
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Re: Asbestos in early RCA Electrolas

Post by Victrolacollector »

Well that much asbestos may be harmful, but a small undesturbed cardboard thin sheet in a Radiola or phonograph should not be a problem.

HisMastersVoice
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Re: Asbestos in early RCA Electrolas

Post by HisMastersVoice »

Victrolacollector wrote:Well that much asbestos may be harmful, but a small undesturbed cardboard thin sheet in a Radiola or phonograph should not be a problem.
On the contrary, it’s keeping the cabinet from catching fire 8-)

Victrolacollector
Victor V
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Re: Asbestos in early RCA Electrolas

Post by Victrolacollector »

It’s ironic, that stocks are down today for Johnson and Johnson, they allegedly used asbestos in baby powder.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/14/business ... index.html

HisMastersVoice
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Re: Asbestos in early RCA Electrolas

Post by HisMastersVoice »

Victrolacollector wrote:It’s ironic, that stocks are down today for Johnson and Johnson, they allegedly used asbestos in baby powder.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/14/business ... index.html
I saw that last night. It’s not that they purposely used asbestos. Veins of asbestos can often be found in talc mines, so there is a risk of natural cross-contamination. Of course, they should have known this and tested for it periodically.

zenith82
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Re: Asbestos in early RCA Electrolas

Post by zenith82 »

For that matter, any type of dust can cause respiratory issues and disease if it's continually inhaled over a long period of time. Take people who work in flour mills for 30 years - a lot of them end up with respiratory problems. Yet we don't see mass hysteria about flour.

Virtually everything from about the early 1980s back to at least the 1920s that was fireproof or heat resistant had asbestos in it. If it was as deadly as the shyster lawyers made it out to be, no one would have lived past the age of 50 until maybe a decade ago.

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