Asbestos in hairdryer?

[watercooled]

I've just salvaged a relative's old hairdryer to get the nichrome wire but there is a white string running through it as a support.

It's extremely heat-resistant, it just glows under the heat of a blow torch, could it be asbestos? I'm concerned because she has been using this hairdryer for like 5-10 years or something but I thought it had been banned for decades. What else could it be?

Thanks

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Unless you break the filament into flakes and inhale it I don't think you should be worried. Loads of older buildings still have asbestos in them and you really need to be exposed to reasonable levels of it over time to have any health issues.

[watercooled]

I was just thinking, with it being specifically in a hairdryer, moving air past the source and into the user's face it could be a cause for concern. More concerning though is how it could have found its way into a Babyliss (apparently a good brand name) hairdryer. I mean it might be an old one but surely not 30-40 years...

[scaryjim]

There's a few non-asbestos fibre filaments available nowadays - gas lantern mantles are made of one - so if it's a modern hair dryer that chances are it's non-asbestos. As you say,I'm pretty sure that use of asbestos in new products was outlawed ages ago...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I had a quick look at wikipedia and it could be another material:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbesto...n_construction

[watercooled]

Hmm it looks like it could be glass fibre. I hope so anyway...

Thanks.