Dangerous substances to watch out for on Russian Trucks

[haymish]

might have mentioned this before but can't remember-but forceably reminded this morning-russian woodwork-in the seats at least is nasty stuff.tanalized wood lasts maybe 25 years tops-the seats i've been doing for paulob1 must be well older than that and even the ones where have obviously been soaked for years are still solid with no rot-even tho the nails/staples etc have dissappeared years ago and are just rusty blobs.final proof of nastyness when stripping the last one in present batch to find whole mouse family petrified and preserved in the foam.presuming mothers milk passed nasties to the babies etc.even when left in my workshop for weeks -not a single insect/moth/spider goes near them!to have survived possibly 40years without decay they must have been treated with heavy metals/cyanide compounds so if you are cutting/sanding etc-anything that makes dust the minimum is a decent facemask/overalls etc.

[portamurda1]

and not forgetting the most dangerous...the nut behind the wheel!!!

[Ditch]

Asbestos in the brake and clutch linings - Wash down with water to clean rather than blow out with an airline.

Sodium in the cylinder head valves - Don't go chopping them apart.

I'm sure there's plenty more.

[haymish]

in the antiques business -russian painted furniture,dolls,toys etc are reknowned for crazily high lead concentrations-i cannot imagine it will be any lower for the paint on ancient military vehicles.[the lead concentrations in the soil in and around moscow would trigger a serious pollution incident/clean up if in the west]

[Abrs]

Chromated copper arsenate (CCA) treated(tanalised) timber is potentially dangerous if you are exposed to it for long enough, CCA contains arsenic amongst other things


Snowdrop = ars.e.nate - guys I think you need to turn the profanity filter down a notch or two

[KarlJ]

You should be able to type arsenate now.

[Abrs]

Thanks Karl - My life is now complete

Forgot to mention, some treatments also contain cyanide etc

[portamurda1]

Hamish and I discussed this earlier....actually, and this is VERY contreversial for an H&S manager to be saying this....if youre aged 40 or over (which i definately am ) we've already been exposed to loads of this shit just growing up....you just need to be careful working on your vehicles, even though if you had an old hose that you stripped the paint and lagging from, your vehicle is your baby, and babies dont hurt you......philosphical phil.....

isocyanates....arsenates....lead..asbestos.....tolulene....heavy metals, in oils, fabrics, woods and other organics, the list goes on, but most is common sense precautions...its thoe that have to work with them as part of their business thats more at risk (even from litigation)...look after yourselves, new vehicles arent that much better

[Ditch]

I suppose the biggest risk dangerous substances in these trucks is breathing them as dust or vapour form. Dust from sanding, cutting and drilling. Vapour from burning or heating.

Avoiding these things as much as possible and sealing up the problem areas with sealants and paint has to help. Well ventilated areas and dust masks has to make things less dangerous if you can't avoid them.

It's just better to know where they are.