Case Study: Asbestos in Hair Dryer?

THE PROBLEM: Hair dryers are a common household appliance and some older hair dryers may have been made with an asbestos-containing insulating material.  There was a concern that the insulating material from a certain manufacturer may have contained asbestos. Experts at MVA were provided with a vintage hair dryer and asked to examine it for the presence of an asbestos-containing insulating material.

THE ANALYSIS: The hair dryer was opened and insulating components were examined. The insulating material associated with the hair dryer was analyzed for asbestos following a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established test method.

THE IMAGE:

A mica fragment

THE OUTCOME: MVA’s results indicated that the insulating material was mica and no asbestos was detected in the insulating material.