[hedora]

Asbestos brake pads are illegal in the US as far as I know (and I’ve heard that the asbestos in the old banned ones was not the same as the really nasty stuff in insulation, even after being ground up during normal use).

Did NYC somehow get a special “kill all the commuters” exemption under the radar, or something?

[ComputerGuru]

This article from 1980 says asbestos brake usage in train/subway cars was already almost entirely phased out at the time it was published: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1980/11/11/late...

[akovaski]

Asbestos brake pads are NOT illegal in the US, according to the EPA[0]. I have not been able to find any evidence that asbestos brake particulate is safe[1].

There are numerous places online saying that most brake pads no longer use asbestos, particularly OEM brake pads. Though I can't find any numbers to back this up. Also, I have no idea how carcinogenic the replacement materials are; I hope they are less dangerous than asbestos.

[0] https://www.epa.gov/asbestos/us-federal-bans-asbestos [1] https://www.mesotheliomatreatmentcenters.org/asbestos/brake-...