This is from a different post, but I felt the need to broadcast on a “subject level”. The discussion concerns wearing a respirator for sanding resin, but my purpose is to shout out about all kinds of dust; here goes…
Maybe it’s my profession that makes me say this (I’m the dreaded ‘safety guy’), but PLEASE EVERYONE, use a respirator! Dust masks are better than nothing, but a respirator with “valves” is the best protection. Look up the term “respirable dust”. It consists of fine particles that are inhaled and will never leave your lungs!
Okay, I looked it up for you:
From OSHA: “Respirable dust refers to those dust particles that are small enough to penetrate the nose and upper respiratory system and deep into the lungs. Particles that penetrate deep into the respiratory system are generally beyond the body’s natural clearance mechanisms of cilia and mucous and are more likely to be retained.”
Now, think about what kinds of dust you have been around during your whole life…Example: since I’ve been around the steel fabrication industry, I’m sure I have rusting lungs, and so on…What is the sum of the crap in your lungs today? Do you want to add to it?
I worked in a naval shipyard for well over 30 years, especially on the nuclear side of it. We got chest X-rays every year and due to proper protection, my lungs are clean. I always wore hearing protection, too, and my hearing is as good today as it was when I joined the Navy in 1972. The only things I was bad about wearing were a hardhat in areas where the was no danger of head injury (although there was a blanket requirement to do so) and safety glasses outside in clear areas. I was always ducking the safety man.
There were old timers at the Yard who are now suffering mesothelioma from asbestos exposure, but luckily for me, that danger was recognized and being dealt with before I started working there.
I don’t do a lot of resin sanding to compare with all the crap that was in the air at the Navy Yard, but if it is a big job, I’ll slip on a mask. Fiberglass is the next big thing to be worried about, I think. Definitely wear a respirator when working with that stuff.
subfixer, always good to hear feedback from someone in our industry. BTW, I use the expression “safety guy salute” for those I see at a distance reaching down and raising their hands up to put on their safety glasses when I approach. …I agree about hard hats, but like you say, “blanket policy”.
It’s my uneducated opinion but, I don’t think a chest x-ray will see 5 micron size particles. These particles can and most likely will do damage; I have a first hand experience revealing each of us is sensitive in our own way. Who knows how someone will react to the pollution of their lungs and other exposures in our shipyard environment. You know how the expression goes, Ol’ grandpa smoked for eight hundred and sevempty five years and lived to 100. My Mom (at 66) and Dad (at 55) both died of cancer from smoking.
I am retired now, but worked as a marine electrician for nine years then as a radiological controls technician (Geiger counter dude) for 22 more. I know that all that it takes to contract mesothelioma is one microscopic asbestos fiber or just a picocurie of Cobalt-60 in the wrong place to get cancer. I don’t know what the limit of casting resin is but I respect the danger. But the statistics are pretty much in the low end if you wear your PPE correctly.
But what I find humorous is the guy out in the middle of nowhere wearing a helmet to protect him from what? A menacing bird with an overfull colon? A meteorite? Or blue ice from a passing airliner? They do make good rain hats, though.
What about protection when using Tamiya acrylics? I thin and clean up with alcohol, and though the painting creates few fumes, clean up certainly does.
When airbrushing I always use a respirator. Even when using water based acrilycs. Because the danger is not only in the solvents but also in the paint particles
What other tasks do you wear respirators for, guys, and why or why not do you wear them? For instance; when smoking meat, mowing the lawn, changing the baby’s diaper? When is it just too much trouble (or just too ridiculous) to wear one? I don’t wear one when spraying acrylics because I feel the exposure time is just too low and the body’s defense mechanisms will take care of cleaning any pollutants out. That is what mucus is for.
I think if we are going to carry it to one extreme, how can you not justify carrying it to the other?
I’ve preached my “all inspired” sermon, things to think about, weed eating, cleaning the cat box, fertilizing, sanding anything…safety starts with us!!!
Well, as one who upon returning to the hobby started using enamels (more out of convenience and availability at the LHS than anything else) wished I would have used a good respirator to begin with. It wasn’t until later that I decided it was a good idea… especially since my “paint booth” is an enclosed room in the basement.
On a more serious note, I also use other safety gear in jobs around the house: dustmasks when sawing, respirator (there it is!) when (mechanically) sanding, protective googles and ear plugs then drilling or using a chainsaw, gloves when gardening and of course a cup when full contact sparring.
Gee, I guess modeling can be hazardous to your health. I wonder how many years I have left. I started modeling at 8 years old- I am 75 now. I have modeled continuously since I started modeling. I wonder how many years I will loose from my normal life expectancy for having never used a respirator for painting. I do use a dust mask for sanding wood, since I have found I have developed an allergy to wood dust, and use a lot of wood when I scratch build.
I’m with Don here, but he’s ahead of me by a few years.[;)] I built my first kit about 1955. Back in the day, I’d use rattle cans to spray cars in my bedroom, which had no windows, and no ventilation. I’m 63 and biked just over 30 solo miles today in 93 degree humid heat at 15 MPH with no problem. and still more power in reserve, if I’d wanted to push. I was out with a couple buddies on Saturday for over 35 miles at almost 17 MPH with more climbs than today (it WAS about 7 degrees cooler though more humid.)
I, too, have been modeling for decades. Started spray bombing car bodies in my 12’x12’ bedroom then going to sleep at o’dark thirty in the morning when I was about 13.
Today it’s all airbrush in a much bigger place and the home made spray booth didn’t make the last move with me. I ain’t dead yet, or even sick. Nor am I an alarmist. I personally believe if one is going to die from an occasional whiff of paint fumes then he better live in a remote wilderness or a bubble. The air I breathe on the way to work and home each day is ten times worse than the air in my garage when I spray. And I’m not about to wear a respirator when I’m driving.
hkshooter, I will be the first to admit I am an alarmist by trade and by nature! I may be a few degrees worse than ol’ Grandma! (Just ask my wife and kids) My concern is less about paint vapors, and more about dust! My impression is resin dust is supposed to be nasty, and that’s where the discussion started.
One thing I will point about the effects of inhaled solvent vapors, many career painters became “bookkeepers” and even had to leave the trade due to chemical sensitivity from breathing various paint and solvent vapors. Like I explain at the morning safety meeting, when you die, they won’t really give a hoot what killed you. All they’ll want to know is how much money you had and whether they’re gonna get any!!!
Also, chlorinated solvents should never be used in California, as they are know to cause cancer there!