Are older model dryers a potential health hazard

[dackyl]

Hello all! I'm new around here but wanted to seek the wisdom of people that better understand older appliances than I.
I've had an old Parnall 292 dryer that vents out the front of the door for a few years now, it's a fantastic unit and never fails to get the job done, which is more than I can say about a newer condenser dryer I had before it!
However, my partner has raised concerns of weather this method of drying could cause some health concerns since it's front vented rather than externally vented like more modern units.
I ask a two part question for anyone that can ease my partner's worries. Firstly, is there a health risk with the hot air venting through the front? It's in my kitchen and we keep the window open when in use to avoid lingering moisture and it seems to work a treat.
Also, these older models of dryers potentially had asbestos belts as part of the mechanism, is there a risk of exposure to asbestos especially since these types of dryers vent the way they do?
If anyone also has any insight on when this model of dryer was manufactured I'd be very interested to learn more about its history, my attempts to find more info on the world wide Web hasn't bore much fruit sadly.
Thank you in advance for any and all help!

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

No, belts At least from where I’m from they have never

And will never contain asbestos, I don’t think all that much has changed in the way how manufacturers make dryer belts

 

[jamiel]

Asbestos belts, no, but it is likely that there are asbestos panels/linings in some of the heated areas. Non-friable (intact) asbestos isn't a health danger, so unless things are crumbling you should be fine. Taking-apart and reassembling, though, does introduce a risk if you're monkeying around with the asbestos-coated fittings.

 

[maytag85]

Since it’s more dry in the fall and winter months, won’t really pose a problem since the air is more dry. Would only pose a problem in the spring and winter months where there’s more humidity in the air. The main reason why dryers are vented to the outside is because of the lint and humidity they produce, not because of carbon monoxide etc. Asbestos more than likely would be around the area of the heating element, don’t think dryer belts would contain asbestos since most were reinforced with fiberglass, fabric, and steel cables in the belt around the drum setup.

 

[lowefficiency]

An unvented gas dryer would have the same set of health concerns as a gas range - It's a subject of much debate here on this forum, but there are some good articles and research out there describing the harmful combustion byproducts that are released into the air when cooking, and their related health effects...

If the model dryer you have does use asbestos insulation, I'd personally call it and find something different. The combination of combustion byproducts, excess humidity, linting in a food prep area, and risk of insulation spread just doesn't seem worth it to me...

 

[combo52]

Unvented clothes dryers in the house or kitchen

I don’t think any US dryers used any asbestos in them certainly not after 1980 and probably much earlier.

I did read that some drive belts at one time about 10 years ago. especially ones that came from Asia had a little bit of asbestos in them I imagine the amount would be so small has to be pretty insignificant.

As far as length goes, just handling sorting folding and ironing laundry creates a lot of very find lint and there is some negative health effects from this cotton lint is a carcinogen.

For these reasons I generally don’t think you should have it inside vented dryer but it’s probably not gonna kill anybody either.

Using an exhaust fan in the room and keeping the room under negative pressure would go along way to reducing this dust buildup when doing laundry I guess if the dryer can’t be vented directly.

As far as combustion products if you were using a gas dryer which of course is not common in Europe anyway, whenever you’re burning any fuel there are combustion products that are released most appliances that are fuel burning or vented directly outside the home.

Gas ranges and unvented gas heaters are a special problem, good practice would insist on a good ventilation above a range and use it whenever the ranges of use even just for boiling water.

Unvented gas clothes dryers of course would release some combustion products however it’s far less than a gas range, gas burners are notoriously bad and ovens are not very good either in this regard. it a gas clothes dryer the flame is normally burning in free air not touching any cold metal so you tend to get a more efficient combustion process but it’s still never perfect.

John

 

[retro-man]

Just an observation, I don't see where op stated that this is a gas dryer. I was assuming that this is an electric dryer.

Jon

 

[dackyl]

I appreciate everyone's insight and input, just to clarify it is an electric dryer. This seems like a solid community of people so thank you for taking the time to reply at all, it means a lot and has eased some of the concerns outlined in the original post.

 

[chestermikeuk]

Parnall 292

Hello and a warm welcome to Automatic Washer , is this the type of dryer you have ? , its a compact Creda and while design hasnt changed over the years, the components such as the heater cover plate is now coated so there will be no asbestos heat insulation pads like on much older dryers .

Great dryers with fast air flow, though it vents from the front you can get an adaptor plate and plastic hose to fit on the door and stick the hose through a window when in use. You can usually find these on ebay etc , these are certainly a lot quicker than condensor types which work much better in a cold room.

Cheers, Mike

 

[statomatic]

Health hazard will occurs when washing always at low temperatures, using crappy detergent & softeners and keep the machine closed after cycle.

On the photo a mucky Philips T12M860, the owner used only cold and 30°C cycles and way too much detergent.
Got called for a clogged pump, that ended with a new pump, bearings replacement and steam disinfection of the whole machine.

 

[tomturbomatic]

RE Reply #5:

John remember those Westinghouse slant front dryers with the heater box under the drum and the asbestos panel under the heater box to insulate the bottom of the cabinet from the heater box just above it? It was probably best not to try to use those dryers without the leveling legs installed.

All of my electric dryers that vent inside I have the exhaust go through a second filter or into a pair of pantyhose to catch the fine lint. I run the furnace fan while the dryer is operating to catch lint and disperse the heat and humidity.

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

So is it with all Westinghouse style dryers

That have a heater box under the drum? As I own the Australian version of a Westinghouse tumble dryer, the one with the heater box directly under the drum, and now I’m concerned because that one is my daily driver, I’ll probably leave it alone and won’t bother with wanting to get rid of that panel although I do know that the floor is quite warm to hot probably is because this one doesn’t have such a panel but at the moment it’s been about two months since I’ve used it because I’m currently in Perth