Glass wool. Is it dangerous?

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The only reason to worry about glass wool is if you are moving it around a lot and making dust and breaking off pieces, etc. If it is sitting in your enclosure, it is no hazard at all. IF it worries you, there would be no harm in covering it with some cloth....but any touching of it is likely to cause more of what you are worried about than leaving it alone ;)

Glass wool is not like asbestos - its fibers are orders of magnitude larger and it doesn't fly around and stay in the air for long periods......
 
the speakers are kind of 30 years old(maybe more). the build quality of the enclosure is excellent. the drivers are onkyo(hokutone). i'm planning to remove the driver and construct a new baffle with new speakers.

i think i will remove the glass wool and throw it out. the internal volume is around 1.2 cubic feet.
the cabinet is made entirely of teak(real teak). it is mainly a monitor kind of speaker with the dimensions 20.5X8.6X11.65(HXDXW). this is the internal dimensions. the cabinets themselves without the baffle are around 15-17 kgs.
let meknow ur thoughts on whether i should go about building a sealed or ported for a box with these dimensions(in its present form it is sealed and not ported).also should i go for a 3way or a 2 way.
Sachi

BTW thanks fo rthe input . i'll stay away from it.
 
Glass wool is reported to be carcinogenic - causing cancer.
I am not sure if that refers to problems on the skin due to mechanical handling or due to inhalation of the fine particles.

Handling it with bare hands will cause some of the glass wool to penetrate the skin and break off. It leads to itching and is very hard to get rid off . Better to use rubber gloves - the thick variety.
I've used it and dislike it intensely.
Don't work on it with the fan on in any room. It blows the particles all over the place.
 
the wool you're speaking of IS dangerous.
The surrounding air is, of course, shaked a lot by the speaker driver and so some dangerous dust is made...
but if the enclosure is good sealed the problem is not as big as with vented ones.
You may consider assuring good seal adding some silicone from outside.
If you want to do a good work, you can take out the drivers and put them in a new identical enclosure filled with some other damping material. Be aware not to make the problem worse: when you work on the enclosures, try to move the least things you can in order not to mess around with the wool... take out drivers and crossover and throw away the rest in plastic bag.
and let the drivers run a bit outdoor before playing with them so they can wash out the dust particles. The crossover board can usually be quickly washed in water without damage.
 
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David, glass fibre insulation not that bad. You may be getting confused with asbestos. Just wear a paper dust mask and gloves whilst handling and you will be fine. The dust produced as the fibres break isn't even that small, and will settle out of the air very quickly.
 
shusha said:
I think that glass wool is not much used these days and similar replacement is mineral wool. It has no glass fibers.

actually "glass wool" is the material which you layer-up to make things like boat hulls, aircraft interiors etc. -- the glass is "Fiberglas" a trade-mark of Owens Corning of Toledo, Ohio -- the polyester resin (well, it's a kind of poly ester) is the polymer which holds the glass strands together --
 
jackinnj said:
actually "glass wool" is the material which you layer-up to make things like boat hulls, aircraft interiors etc. -- the glass is "Fiberglas" a trade-mark of Owens Corning of Toledo, Ohio -- the polyester resin (well, it's a kind of poly ester) is the polymer which holds the glass strands together --

Actually no. The material used for making glass fiber composite materials is usually called fabric when woven, and "Mat" when not woven and it looks like felt. There are many different types of resins - Polyester, Epoxy and Vinyl Ester are the main ones.

Glass wool is used in building insulations and in many acoustical materials. IT is very useful for that. Rock wool is similar to glass wool but is made from other minerals - even the silicate slag from the iron making process. The glass wool used in insulation is usually lightly coated with a resin to make it stick to itself - the compressed board products have more of this resin. THe stuff is a nuisance and no doubt not something you want in your eyes, lungs or skin, but it is not some craaaazy dangerous product that you need to be afraid of.

Taking the time to remove it from your enclosure will only expose you to thousands of times more of what you are trying to avoid than leaving it undisturbed - seems kind of like using gasoline to clean the oil stains in your garage floor ;) (not a good idea if you didn't know already)
 
ashok said:
Glass wool is reported to be carcinogenic - causing cancer.

Thanks for the vocabulary lesson. I found this with one google:

"Epidemiologic studies published during the 15 years since the previous IARC Monographs review of these fibres in 1988 provide no evidence of increased risks of lung cancer or of mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the body cavities) from occupational exposures during manufacture of these materials, and inadequate evidence overall of any cancer risk."

http://www.naima.org/pages/resources/safety/research.html
 
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