Can anyone tell me how hazardous brake dust is on MODERN vehicles? Before anyone says it, Asbestos is NOT the hazard.........!

But seriously should I just treat it as though it was "general dust" of is it classified as hazardous?

I used to work for a company who made brake linings for all kinds of vehicles and the material composition of these linings differed to which vehicle they were being fitted to. In all cases though they did contain phenolic resins, friction dust and fiberglass which were classed at the time as being hazardous. As Teh Boy says, you would be best of contacting the manufacturer and asking for MSDS's and then completing relevant risk COSHH risk assessments to determine exposure.

Heres my thoughts folks - hope they help:
Considering brake-linings to contain asbestos or non-asbestos materials as a criteria for subsequent controls can be misleading. The reason being non-asbestos replacement materials (Man Made Mineral Fibres, MMMF for short) have a similar physical micro-structure to asbestos, they have to in order to function in the same capacity. When we then consider the invitro - biological effects of some MMMFs, ie what they do inside the body once inhaled, many studies suggest they are MORE harmful than our friends from asbestosville....

Start off with the manufactures MSDSs, Id recommend not confining your focus to MMMFs alone, the resins too need accounting for...and your baseline will be to refer to EH40 at the sametime. Once done Im sure you will arrive at NOT LESS than substituting the current process of cleaning by compressed air!
As an interim Id suggest a wet process with consider disposal with Respiratory PPE until the risk assessment is complete.