Re: epoxy fumes

Posted by terry on Dec 20, 2004

Gees, I'm away from this little forum for a few days and I miss this lively thread.

Anyhow, a few more strokes to ensure we beat this thread to death:

It is true that MSDS's generaly apply to 8-hour industrial exposures, but some chemicals also have exposure limits for much shorter periods (15 minutes, for example as well as time-weighted averages).

MSDS's do not always address the rarer health effects, or the as-yet-undocumented health effects that can arise from unusual working conditions, changes in the chemicals' components, interactions with other chemicals or personal susceptibility (like allergies, medications).

So I guess my point is, there's unknowns out there. So maybe don't rely on MSDS's as your sole authority for health effects, personal protective equipment and other protective measures. If you're working with chemicals that are known to have adverse health effects in some circumstances, keep it out of your eyes and lungs, off your skin and away from the obviously vulnerable folks like young children, very old or otherwise ill folks, pregnant women and even pets (I'd extend this warning to all folks of child-bearing age, but would problably be accused of being alarmist).

I've also advocated the use of full-face respirators when working with epoxy, thinning agents and two-part urethane paints. They work much, much better than half-face units at minimizing both airborne exposure and splash. I know they're more expensive and can be trickier to fit. What's the protection worth to you?

And I do like the basement fan idea. I build in a similar basement with small windows. I use one of those cheap, plastic double bladed window fans that keep a good colume of air moving out. I also always try to keep the working surface and epoxy between myself and the fan, and run the fan each time I enter the shop until all epoxy is well cured.

Happy Holidays!

Terry

In Response to: Re: epoxy fumes by Mac on Dec 20, 2004

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