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Thread: Is this pink fiber insulation bad for you?

  1. #1
    Senior Member spwal's Avatar
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    Is this pink fiber insulation bad for you?

    Just curious.... my room certainly smells like the stuff since i moved them in here. I imagine that the bass does a certain ammount of agitation to the fill, and there is a small vent on the side.

    Please let me know if this is a major health concern and please pose some possible solutions. Does keeping the grilles on help?

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by spwal View Post
    Please let me know if this is a major health concern and please pose some possible solutions. Does keeping the grilles on help?
    Yes, which is why most building codes no longer allow occupancy where fiberglass insulation is exposed. I have a friend whose brother worked for Owens-Corning's legal department. He always said the asbestos scare, removal, and suits were nothing compared to what he expected from fiberglass insulation claims someday. He said one fiber ingested into your lungs can cause malignancies. I was so glad to hear that since I helped a buddy build a Meyer's Manx dune-buggy one summer and we ate and breathed the fiberglass dust, and it stuck to every sweaty piece of skin on our teenage bodies. Still makes me itch to think about it. Lucky to be alive almost 40-years later, I suppose.

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    I find that surprising. It may be true but last I new the stuff was everywhere at the plant. I work at a cement plant (not to be confused with concrete) and a guy from here went to work at corning and he said they had pink stuff like we have dust. (we have dust)I know that particle size has a lot to do with it. It is the smallest particles (I wish I had the sizes handy) that get you. Your lungs are very good at cleaning themselves (unless you smoke) of junk but particles below a certain size your lungs can't clean out. Particle shape is important also sharper is worse. I'll have to look into that. I know things change. There was a time, long after they knew asbestos was bad, when they said no mechanic had ever had health effects from the asbestos from doing brake jobs. That's not what they say today. There are warnings everywhere you might breath silica. Some hazards are in theory and others will get you while you're reading the warning. I have no idea where this one is. I wasn't really aware of fiber glass having a smell. Maybe it's adhesives. They make other material to use in speaker enclosures if someone is concerned about it.

  4. #4
    Senior Member spwal's Avatar
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    That is somewhat of an isssue to me...

    I have a small room and now my room smells like old speakers, most noticable obviously when i walk in and the windows and doors are closed.

    I can borrow my gfs ionizer as well as put the grilles on. But at the same time, this doesnt reconcile the fact that the 19s have alot of exposed pink filling lining the cabinet and a front facing vent.

    to be fair i was mucking around in there the other day to put the binding posts on (need to get up and under the lining with bare hands) but we were gentle enough.

    Smelling something is one thing.... having the particles floating around in the air when i listen to techno is another.

    of course, i could not listen to techno, and its not like i do, im just saying. im being somewhat serious here. I dont want to start spraying hair spray and stuff in there, as my woofers are glued in and i dont want to get crap on the cones.

    anyone else concerned with this? adn any potential remedies? i am not in any position to take all of this stuff out and put in new lining. These speakers are in my room to stay... there is no moving them to a vented area to work on them for the most part.

    thanks

  5. #5
    Senior Member spwal's Avatar
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    by the way, i have a keen sense of smell, which is why i'm sensitive to the possible hazards of the lining. my gf says she doesn't smell anything.

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    As far as I know, the fiberglass itself doesn't smell. Could it be some kind of glue you're smelling instead?

    John

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    RIP 2011 Zilch's Avatar
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    I would not be concerned. The action of the driver is not as a pump.

    The particles, even if suspended, are staying in the cabinet for the most part.

    Put the grilles back on to capture what little may be coming out....

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    I was under the impression that this was new fiberglass. If this is old I doubt that it is fiberglass that you smell. It seams more likely to me that you are smelling something that calls your fiberglass home. I wouldn't speculate as to whether or not is a life form but I can't remember anybody ever complaining about the smell of fiberglass in the room from their speakers and it's just reasonable that it would give off more order when new than when old. I was going to make a joke about who you leave them to and tell you that legionella is pretty quick but sitting in the room with them that might not be too funny. I think you have to identify the oder first. It could be that you'll need a bleach solution but I can't smell them. I'm not really laughing at you. I realize that this is a serious problem for you, but you've heard all the answers I have. You say you disturbed them, so I'm assuming you would have already seen anything with 4 legs.

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    Senior Member spwal's Avatar
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    Hi,

    You know what i mean... these are big imposing speakers. Really big, if you havent seen them, they are as wide as a fridge and 2/3 as tall. So they are big in my small room.

    This is from 1978, original pink fill.

    I suppose i should say that they smell... well... old, antiquey. It goes away after you get used to it for a few minutes, and then i take huge nosefulls of air and cant place it, but its there when you walk in the room.

    Its not bad... maybe like grandma's basement. These have been in dry storage for 5 years, but they smell slightly musty.

    I am most concerned that this may be asbestos or some kind of dangerous material.

    So we have 2 sides to the debate now..

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    I think your smelling dust. Granny's basement didn't usually have pink stuff. Any odor it may have goes away early in its life. As in before you met these speakers. Granny's basement may have had mold (only a tiny amount of which is toxic, most is rather benign) It may have had rodent wast product and insect waste. I really don't know about critters smaller than that. I don't see what it's going to heart if you spray your favorite essence in there. If you pull a driver you can spray some scented pine sol or clorox spray. I'd spray the glass and leave the speakers dry. Doesn't matter if anybody can smell it it obviously bothers you a lot and that's a pretty simple way to attack it. Or maybe toss one of those car smell good thing in each. If you do get sick and they can't figure out what it is mention something about legionnaires disease.
    Or, are you smelling moth balls

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    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thom View Post
    I know that particle size has a lot to do with it. It is the smallest particles (I wish I had the sizes handy) that get you. Your lungs are very good at cleaning themselves (unless you smoke) of junk but particles below a certain size your lungs can't clean out.
    I don't know if asbestos is safer or not, but particles in the 5 to 7 micron range are the most dangerous... larger ones are flushed and filtered out, and I guess the smaller ones are absorbed. The problem with asbestos is the shape of it's particles along with the fact that it tends to break down into quite a lot of particles in this dangerous size range.

    Whether fiberglass is as dangerous as asbestos or not, it certainly should be treated with respect, and you should always wear a respirator, not a silly dust mask, when working with the stuff.


    Widget

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    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by spwal
    I suppose i should say that they smell... well... old, antiquey. It goes away after you get used to it for a few minutes, and then i take huge nosefulls of air and cant place it, but its there when you walk in the room.

    Its not bad... maybe like grandma's basement. These have been in dry storage for 5 years, but they smell slightly musty.
    One thing I know from old cars is that wherever you store them they'll attract mice to their coziest and most private spaces. I had a mouse family move into a frame cavity, filling it with shreds of U-Haul moving blankets. Talk about a smell! It filled a shop-vac sucking all the shreds out, and picking at them with a hooked welding rod just to unpack the damn stuff. If you've had your speakers with the ducts open to the insulation blanket and they smell, I'd take a look inside and see if a mouse left you some "presents" or perhaps just urinated all over the glass mat. I know how much they love the insulation in my oven! That's a tough smell to get rid of. All the more reason to keep grilles in place. Maybe that's what the kitten in that famous shop photo was looking for?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Widget View Post
    I don't know if asbestos is safer or not, but particles in the 5 to 7 micron range are the most dangerous... larger ones are flushed and filtered out, and I guess the smaller ones are absorbed. The problem with asbestos is the shape of it's particles along with the fact that it tends to break down into quite a lot of particles in this dangerous size range.

    Whether fiberglass is as dangerous as asbestos or not, it certainly should be treated with respect, and you should always wear a respirator, not a silly dust mask, when working with the stuff.


    Widget
    If the silly dust mask has two straps instead of one it is defined as a respirator, believe it or not. I'm not sure how they got away with that but for osha and msha requirements by putting an upper and lower strap on the training bra cup they can call it a respirator. Doesn't matter, none of them seal properly over the temple pieces of eyeglasses but I'm guessing that's not what you meant by respirator and I agree and just because you cant get it all doesn't mean you shouldn't try to get some. These days they are starting to talk about silicosis and labeling silica containing things as carcinogens. When ever they do any refractory work at our place there are warning signs for silica but I don't see them treating it like asbestos. They do for the people working with it, but for passers buy it's way different than asbestos.

    It looks like everybody is agreement; you aren't smelling fiberglass. Your either smelling something that was used where they were stored to keep unfriendlys away or you're smelling something because nothing was used. If you determine that there is no life taking place or even if there is there are plenty of sprays that should fix it. Fiberglass can handle almost anything, so as long as you don't use something with fumes that will eat your speakers you should be fine. Situations like this usually it's the woman smells it and the guy can't and major arguments are generated. Good luck.

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    Quote Originally Posted by BMWCCA View Post
    One thing I know from old cars is that wherever you store them they'll attract mice to their coziest and most private spaces. I had a mouse family move into a frame cavity, filling it with shreds of U-Haul moving blankets. Talk about a smell! It filled a shop-vac sucking all the shreds out, and picking at them with a hooked welding rod just to unpack the damn stuff. If you've had your speakers with the ducts open to the insulation blanket and they smell, I'd take a look inside and see if a mouse left you some "presents" or perhaps just urinated all over the glass mat. I know how much they love the insulation in my oven! That's a tough smell to get rid of. All the more reason to keep grilles in place. Maybe that's what the kitten in that famous shop photo was looking for?
    You're lucky if your mice liked u-haul blankets. Mine always went for the insulation on the wires.

  15. #15
    Senior Member louped garouv's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by spwal View Post
    This is from 1978, original pink fill.
    did the pink fill have a thin black webing pulled over it?

    when I had 19s they had a little black cloth covering the pink so you
    couldn't see the fiber fill when listenign to them....


    I don't worry to much about the fiberglass in my A7s....

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