Yes, sorry, you didn't mention money, but before someone else shouts "This guy just wants to make money", I thought I'd better put this right.
If I'd find a lab that does a professional asbestos test for $50 I would surely consider paying this myself. But at least in Germany it is much more expensive - at least 100 Euro per test, which is approx. $130. In addition it doesn't make sense to test only one cylinder. We would have to test a certain number because of the long time it was produced (17 years). Perhaps it wouldn't be necessary to test cylinders from all 17 years, but maybe 8 to 10 different years from 1912 to 1929. If none of them would contain any asbestos it would be relatively sure that BA's from those years not tested are free of it as well. So, it's not a matter of $50 it is a matter of $1000 to $1300. That makes a difference (to me).
To get only one BA tested doesn't make much sense. If it is free of asbestos it doesn't say anything about those from the other 16 years of production. If it contains asbestos it only proofs that in this certain year it was used as a filler material - but we need to know what's the deal with all of them.
As it is not just a problem for European collectors, I think it makes sense to share any costs between as many of us as possible. If i.e. 50 collectors are willing to contribute to this, the amount for each one would be just $20 to $26 - that is roughly the equivalent for one BA cylinder. So, not a lot for such an important information. I still hope there'll be some interest by collectors sooner or later ...
Thanks, Helmut