HELP! Ww2 civilian respirator asbestos. HELP!

[12jslater]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum and I brought a civilian resporator from a 1940s fair, I did not realise until after I had brought it that they contain asbestos, this is very working to me as I tried it on twice for about 10 seconds each time, I will say I did not breath in the resporator I held my breath as I didn't want to breath through a 70+ year old filter that could have mildew and other things inside. Am I at any risk from this exposure bearing in mind I never breathed through the resporator and it was only about 20 seconds in total.

Also is there anyway I could seal the filter? The mask has the marking 23 2 40 which I imagine means that is was manufactured 23rd Febuary 1940 I don't know if this might help with solutions to seal it.

Thanks, Jake

[Composite]

...for what it's worth I used to put one on when I was spraying the car....and that took a lot longer than 20 seconds....and I inhaled.......that was nearly 40 years ago......'still here!

[12jslater]

Thanks I am only 15 so don't know much about this sort of thing, I would still like to seal it though as it's going to be on display in my bedroom and with the asbestos no matter how small the risk I don't particularly want to sleep around it.

[Adrian Stevenson]

You can seal it by making a solution of PVA glue and pouring this into the filter.

[Gunny Hartmann]

If you didn't breath through it don't worry, do what Ade said by pouring PVA glue into the filter.
Back when i was at school and we had chemistry lessons the bunsen burners sat on an asbestos mat, we used to break pieces off and throw them around and the air would be full of asbestos fibres, that was over 40 years ago and i'm still alive and kicking.

[12jslater]

Thanks for responding i will use a water based wood glue as it is stronger and less prone to damage by water than pva, How much shall I water it down?

[Gunny Hartmann]

Thanks for responding i will use a water based wood glue as it is stronger and less prone to damage by water than pva, How much shall I water it down?

Until it is a pourable liquid!....

[12jslater]

Where about shall I pour it in? From inside the mask or on the front of the filter?

[Gunny Hartmann]

Where about shall I pour it in? From inside the mask or on the front of the filter?

doesn't really matter, just make sure all the filter material is soaked!...

[CBH]

If you do seal the filter, you may want to consider putting a hole into the rubber of the mask.

During the first Gulf War serval Israeli civilians died from suffocation caused by gas masks with the filter plug in-place.

The mask forms a tighter and tighter seal as they panicked, making the mask very difficult to remove, just a word of warning.