Does the side window sealant contain asbestos?

[Berggreen]

Hello everyone

I am currently restoring the hardtop and in that process I wanted to clean the triangular side windows from old rock hard beige sealant - I guess some kind of putty they put inside the rubber seals, which had become stone hard and impossible to remove other than grinding it off with a drilling machine with stiff brush disc.

Unfortunately, this launched this sealant into the air and covered everything with thin power, and I am afraid I first wore a mask towards the end of the process which took place in-doors.

I now got terribly scared, because I read that such old window sealant material may contain asbestos, which I may now have inhaled. 😢😢😢

So, do you know, if the sealant putty used by Mercedes in a 1970 280SL contains asbestos?

Thanks,

Christian

[BobH]

Hello Christian, i'm no expert, but i can't see any reason why asbestos would be used in a window sealant, if the putty used was similar to that used in general house glazing, then it is simply linseed oil and some type of chalk dust, still not recommended to breath in as a dust when sanding, but not as detrimental as asbestos

There are many articles written about the use of asbestos in vehicles, it's used mainly in gaskets and brakes etc, as a protection against heat.  It was also used in textured coatings in houses, for it's other properties, hence why textured coatings should only be removed by specialists, although over the years how many DIYers would have been aware of this?  Again, i can't see any reason why it would be used as a window sealant and none of the articles i've read imply it would have been used for this application

https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/news/safety-in-knowledge-asbestos-in-classic-cars

Bearing in mind some of the dust produced may still be present in your workshop, for peace of mind it would be prudent to employ an asbestos specialist to take a sample for testing, not cheap, but at least it would put your mind at rest

[Mike Hughes]

. . . also for heat shields between intake and exhaust manifolds to help manage vapor lock.

[Raymond]

Christian, I believe you're fine.  I have made many environmental training programs over the years and there is always an asbestos module.  We used to caution against lead in some types of window glazing and sealer, but never did we have to caution about asbestos in putty.  The mask was a good idea just for the dust aspect.

[ejboyd5]

Consider this:

[Berggreen]

Thank all for your comments and advice.

I did have asbestos tests made of both the dust and fragments left from the sealant from the side windows, and in both tests they could not find any asbestos.

However, I also took a sample from the similar sealant putty used on the rear window, and here they unfortunately found asbestos fibres!!

The sealant putty on the rear window feels much more brittle and could in many places along the window be peeled off with a finger, whereas it had to be grinded off on the side windows. I therefore believe a different sealant has been used. The sealant on the side windows seems more like the putty used everywhere else in the hardtop for the crome trim, which I believe is strip chalk.

But what is left is that even though I have only partially removed the sealant on the rear window (with my fingers) I unfortunately cleaned it up afterwards with a normal vacuum cleaner without a special filter to capture the asbestos fibres, as I had no idea about the asbestos at that time, and they may now have ended up everywhere in our house! 😢

I will now have additional dust tests made in the house to find out how bad it is.

Another thing that popped up during my research is PCB, which was often used between 1950-1980 in flexible sealants for windows in houses. This material is now banned world wide because it is also toxic and can cause cancer! The question is now, if PCB was also used in sealant putty for our hard tops for the w113!? 😕

Happy New Year!

[Shvegel]

As a former Asbestos removal worker anything that doesn't break up and turn to dust isn't really an issue. You have to somehow get it into your lungs or stomach for it to do any damage.  If you are exposed to Asbestos at the US Maximum allowed level for an 8 hour day every work day for 20 years you are 3 times as likely as the average American to develop a lung related illness.  If you just smoke a pack of cigarettes every day for the same 20 years you are 10 times as likely.  If you do both for 20 years you are 50 times as likely and adding another pack of cigarettes makes you 100 times as likely.  Your lungs have a great mechanism for cleaning themselves out.  When you smoke it stops that mechanism.  That's why heavy smokers cough in the morning. Their lungs are beginning to clean themselves out so they have a quick smoke to paralyse the Cillia in the lungs and settle it all back down again. 

I wouldn't worry about a single exposure like this.