My mechanic (Rudy) died from prostate cancer. Even though the links between asbestos and prostate cancer are not as well established as the links to lung cancer, the risk seems to exist.
Did Rudy’s brake cleaning regimen lead to his prostate cancer?
Quien sabe?
Everyone that pretty much still works in a shop, most of the lathes are set up with a quick head to go from rotors to drums to rotors, I can still show you many, many , many shops that still have lathes that will cut drums, I have cut hundreds maybe thousands over the years and I am only 55yo..
Some vehicle still have rear drum brakes, my 23 has 4 piston front calipers with rear drums… lol
Just goes to show you just how far out of touch you with reality in dealing with drum brakes…
I’m a hold a shop towel over my mouth and blow the dust out kinda guy… lol
Yeah I remember the Safteyklean portable wash stations, loved using them when replacing show, had a work bench and parts washer all in one… lol
Also saw them get left under the wheel when a car was lowered on the lift… miss those things…
I’ll pull the wheels, slide a garbage can under the brakes and pull the drum off and dump the dust in the garbage can. A spray bottle with Dawn dish soap to clean off the brakes and you’re good to go. Quick and easy.
Unless you’re lucky enough to have a blown axle seal or wheel cylinder…then it’s a mess. I still remember the black fingerprints on the cigarettes we used to smoke while working.
I still say @Old-Days-Rick needs to put his money where his mouth is🤔
He returns after several days and rails against disc brakes, as usual
Yet he will NOT sell his other vehicles and buy a vehicle with drum brakes all around for his daily driver 
Aluminum is not a heavy metal. In fact one of the lightest. That’s why they make airplanes out of aluminum.
Not to mention he’s full of baloney. I replaced the linings on many a drum brake back in the day and I never found them full of dust.
Aluminum most certainly is considered a heavy metal. Heavy Metal - a group of naturally occurring metallic elements of high molecular weight and density compared to water
Go to your neutral corners and come out boxing. Ding!
This has all the hallmarks of a perfect topic for Cartalk!
From Wiki-
Heavy metals is a controversial and ambiguous term
Perfect! 
Continued from Wiki-
The criteria used, and whether metalloids are included, vary depending on the author and context, and arguably, the term “heavy metal” should be avoided
No!!! 
More-
A heavy metal may be defined on the basis of density, atomic number, or chemical behaviour. More specific definitions have been published, none of which has been widely accepted. The definitions surveyed in this article encompass up to 96 of the 118 known chemical elements; only mercury, lead, and bismuth meet all of them. Despite this lack of agreement, the term (plural or singular) is widely used in science. A density of more than 5 g/cm3 is sometimes quoted as a commonly used criterion and is used in the body of this article.
The earliest known metals—common metals such as iron, copper, and tin, and precious metals such as silver, gold, and platinum—are heavy metals. From 1809 onward, light metals, such as magnesium, aluminium, and titanium, were discovered, as well as less well-known heavy metals, including gallium, thallium, and hafnium.
Really? Mine are always full of dust and usually have done you can dump out of the drum.
I tsje my drums off when I rotate the tires. I do a quick mini maintenance on the drums, shake dust out of drum, put a few clicks on the adjuster, really dial them in.
They use those around here, safely and properly cleans and sequesters the brake dust.
I have seen lathes with sequestration devices and vacuums to collect the dust from machining rotors and drums. They are retrofitted to the old Aamco lathes around here.
Back in the day I remember the filth around the brake lathes, now its much cleaner.
Why not repair the brakes so the self-adjusters work properly and don’t need to be messed with every tire rotation? Or have you gone back in time even further and removed the self-adjusting mechanism from your braking system?
What about the iron shavings that come from resurfacing a rotor or drum? What do you do with those? I take them home and spread them on my lawn to prevent moss and promote a lush green look. 
The self adjusters work just fine. I like putting an extra click or two on them, this combined with the fact that the proportioning valve biases the rear that first nit of pedal application to overcome the rear drums springs before they reach thier self actuation point cause very light braking to be handled with more bias to the rear than normal I believe.
If anything it gives the pedal a great solid feel, I often do much braking on back roads with just the slightest feathering of the pedal until I get the majority of the speed scrubbed off.
I like my rear drums brakes to have a hair trigger for their self actuation, I also measure the drums to make sure they are not getting bell mouthed or oblong.
You know what I mean.
Regardless, aluminum is linked both to alzheimers and b r e a s t cancer. That’s why Toms of Maine and some other deodorant mfgs. are removing it as a preservative.
Not very clearly:
Refute, refute, refute.
That’s all I’ve gotten on here, for two years.
You raised an important topic that has been repeatedly evaluated, don’t you want to understand what they found?
I don’t need to.
Common sense.
I tell everyone in sight, in both the cookware and body care sections of stores: Avoid aluminum cookware, in the former, and seek out aluminum-free underarm, in the latter. I at least get an “Oh, okay” or a nod of the head, which is more than I get from most participants in here, regarding any subject.
The aluminum-free underarm roll-on deodorant . . . the one that’s supposedly for sensitive skin . . . gives me a severe and painful rash
I don’t use it anymore
Guess what works and does NOT give me a severe and painful rash?
The old school deodorant WITH aluminum
Don’t be so quick to dismiss aluminum
Engines, transmissions, suspension and steering components are aluminum
You want to go back to cast iron and steel?
Get real, @ChrisTheTireWhisperer