Airbrush/Respirator Question

General Discussion
1

Maybe someone here can shed some light on this:

When I airbrush (I’m doing t-shirts, not boards, so I’m using water-based textile paints) I wear my respirator faithfully, even when I’m just spraying water through the airbrush to flush it out. And yet, that night or the following day, I’m still coughing like CRAZY. One time I even thought I cracked a rib! What’s even stranger is that when I’m using Montana cans, which are presumably far more toxic (of course, I wear the respirator then too!) I seem not to have this problem.

The only thing I can figure out, is that I always use the cans outdoors and wear the mask the whole time; but with the airbrush I work in my kitchen and only wear the respirator while I’m actually spraying. Do you think I’m breathing in paint mist that’s lingering in the air? Should I keep the respirator on longer indoors, even though it’s kind of a pain?

Thanks, Val

2

Howzit Art, One way to see if the respirator is working is after spraying use a Q-tip swab inside your nostrils and see if there is any paint color on the swab. There were few times when I did air brush work and forgot to put on my respirator mask and after a while my nostrils would seem to get hard inside, swabbed with Q-tip and sure enogh there was the color I sprayed on the Q-tip. Never had a cough though. The cough might be from some thing else since the hair in your nose acts some what like a filter. Not sure what kid of respiratir you are using but I recommend a brand that is OSHA approved, not those really cheap ones they sell. I would think that any materials supplier would carry them. The ones I use are from Fiberglass HI. and cost around $ 18.00 for a box of 10 and they are OSHA approved.Aloha,Kokua

3

Thanks for the suggestion! That’s not something I would have thought of, so I appreciate your detailed advice! the respirator I use is one that’s made by 3M and blocks solvents and organic vapors, has filter cartridges and costs about $50 at Home Depot. I’m thinking maybe I just need to leave it on the whole time I’m working, instead of removing it as soon as I shut off the compressor each time. Or maybe it needs new filters.

4

Howzit Art, By all means keep it on when ever you are in the area that you are doing the spraying in. There is so much over spray in the room that it takes a while for it to settle to the ground. For spraying water based paints you can use the other type of respirators, they work just fine for water based paint. The respirator you are using is kind of over kill and just a waste of a good respirator, use you good one for chemicals. Aloha,Kokua

5

I might be wrong but I think Kokua is recommending a particle mask for that price. I would highly recommend a respirator like the car paint guys use. (About $40.00 - $60.00 at Home Depot or a paint store) They have replacable filters and carbon cartridges that trap solvents as well as paint particles. Also, if you have facial hair it can prevent the respirator from sealing properly against your skin. Without a proper a seal, small paint particles and chemicals can get to your lungs. Particle masks, even the good ones, don’t protect you from solvents.

Rule of thumb is: If you can smell the paint, the respirator isn’t working right.

That pain in your chest could be pluresy caused by dust getting into the space between the lung and chest cavity. I had the same thing once when I was working in my closed garage milling oak. The doctor said that the dust causes irritation, especially when you bend over or twist sideways. I thought I was having a heart attack too. Luckily it will go away once you eliminate the source of the irritation.

Doug

6

Howzit Doug, He is using water based paints which you can use a good particle mask for. I agree with you if he were using toxic paint. Aloha,Kokua

7

Thanks Kokua and Doug! Doug, what you said about pluresy almost perfectly describes what I’ve felt a day or two after a long session airbrushing. A pain in my back right where I think my left lung is, along with the cough! It was pretty scary, but then it went away quickly. I guess I should probably still check w. my doctor anyway, I have an appointment soon.

Re: facial hair interfering w. the respirator seal, not an issue b/c I’m a female! :slight_smile: It seems to me like there’s not too many women who post on Swaylocks, but here I am to “keep it co-ed”, as I saw another female poster say.

And Kokua, I know the particle masks work OK for water-based paints but I actually can breathe a lot easier with a respirator than a particle mask. I guess I just need to keep it on for my whole airbrush session. thanks again guys! :slight_smile: Val

8

Probably way off base, but I was thinking, where do you store the mask when not using it?

Are any dust or allergens getting in it when it’s not in use?

Do you clean the inside? Could be germs, mold or fungus. When you take it off, the inside is damp.

Perfect environment for nasty critters to grow.

9

I always store mine in a drawer with the filter parts up so that no dust collects inside the mask. If there are germs in there, they already know me so I don’t sweat it.

Doug

10

If the 3M respirator you bought at Home Depot looks like this one:

You can buy the replacement pre-filters from any automotive refinishing supplier. A box of 10 runs about $13.

When you should replace them, depends on how much material you’re spraying, how long you’re spraying and how good your ventilation is. I usually replace mine after about every 2 to 3 workdays of use.

Water based paints may not be as toxic as the solvent ones but there’s plenty of stuff in them that your lungs don’t need.

Stuff like the binder (some kind of an acrylic polymer or poly vinyl acetate), the filler (like chalk, talc or silica) and the pigment (which can be anything to give it color).

If you’re into inhaling sand or chalk or coating the inside of your lungs with colorful plastic- go for it.

The organic vapor cartridges have activated charcoal in them which will gradually lose it’s effectivness as they are exposed to the environment. So it is a good idea to put your respirator in a resealable container (think Tupperware) when not in use to prolong the life of the cartridges.

Your skin oil and sweat and dust will grunge up your respirator during use. It will probably start to smell bad from the bacteria in your mouth. It’s a good idea to clean/ disinfect your respirator by taking it apart once a week and cleaning all the plastic parts (except the vapor cartridges) with antibacterial dish soap and hot water.



11

Hey,

The mask you bought is known to be a good one…I don’t think thats your problem. I have had the 3M mask that Atomised posted pics of and found them highly adequate.

Over the years I’ve worn allkinds…some which plain did’nt fit very well. (Some brands come in different sizes, some just did’nt suit my face shape…the one in my avatar pic is an MSA, German fire dept. approved, pretty serious…)

With waterbased paints the odour is’nt so strong that you would immediately know that the seal of the facepiece is no good due to bad fit…however, you can try this:-

Place your hands firmly over the cartridge opening and suck breath in. You should feel the rubber clamp onto your face. If not, there’s either air getting in between the rubber and your skin, or one of the valve membranes is busted.

There should be no need to pull the adjustable straps tightly to the point of discomfort. And, I may be generalising here, but your being female could mean a smaller facepiece is suitable.

Having said all that, if none of the above is applicable to you, maybe you have a particular sensitivity to the paints. Barring an odd occasion when I copped a faceful of paint directly, my reaction to regular use of paints in spraying has’nt given me that reaction in over 20 years. (…though I’m not claiming I have the clearest lungs ever…)

Josh

www.joshdowlingshape.com

12

I’ll agree with everything that’s been mentioned, most especially keeping the respirator on well after you’ve stopped spraying, but I’d also suggest rigging a simple exhaust fan in a window to get the stuff out of your atmosphere and kitchen as quickly and as completely as you can. After all, the less you have in your lungs…or on your lunch…the better.

With the water based paints, the chemistry of the paint solvent ( water) isn’t an issue. But the particles of paint themselves can be a problem, both as a mechanical irritation and what with some pigments themselves being toxic or at least unpleasant. And, as a lot of surfboard folks working with epoxies have found,chemical sensitivities vary a lot from person to person. You might be a bit more susceptible than most, or not.

I did some work for a fairly big production silk-screener and they took serious precautions as they were required to under OSHA and such. And, even if you’re simply a small-scale artist doing one-off originals in your kitchen, you’re dealing with a number of the same things. It’d be worthwhile, I think, to have a look at http://www.ehso.com/msds.php, which is a kinda comprehensive list of Material Data Safety Sheets, to see if you’re doing everything you can. You should be able to find the fabric paints and extenders and such you’re working with in there someplace.

http://www.prochemical.com/MaterialSafety.htm and definitely http://www.prochemical.com/StudioSafety.htm would be something to look at right away.

Hope you’re feeling better soon

doc…

13

Hey everyone, thank you SO much. I’m really appreciative of all the advice and insights you have offered here! I think I got better information here, than I would’ve gotten just asking a doctor about the source of my cough. A doctor wouldn’t know these details about airbrushing and masks!

I can see that I have been unaware or careless about a number of things, which I’ll change as a result of your advice:

-no more taking off the mask as soon as I shut the compressor off, I now know I need to leave it on for my whole airbrush session.

-I’ll move a window exhaust fan to my kitchen for better ventilation.

(I wish I didn’t have to use my kitchen at all, but I live in a 1-bedroom condo with no garage. The balcony may be an option - I use it when I’m using the Montana cans with solvent base - but that limits me to daytime work, and I’m a night owl with a daytime teaching job. Plus, the kitchen’s where the electrical outlets, sink, airbrush stand and mixing counters all are.)

-all of my food is inside the fridge or the cupboards, but I can see that I need to move the cat’s dishes away from that lingering overspray.

-I definitely need to replace filters and pre-filters a LOT more often.

-I didn’t realize the rubber facemask could be harboring mold, due to dampness from exhalation, but I’ll definitely clean that more often now too.

-I’ve been keeping the mask in a ziplock bag … in the KITCHEN … i’ll put it in a Tupperware and move it to another room.

-I’ve only tested the seal by puffing air out, not by sucking air in, so I’ll try out the inhalation test. It’s so true that H2O-based paints without solvent, have no odor to warn you that the seal on the mask isn’t good enough!

-it’s also very true that solvents aren’t the only hazard. Having worked with all kinds of paints for 35+ years, I do know how toxic some pigments are, especially anything colored with cadmium, cobalt, or tar (alizarin crimson.) And I’m sure my years as a printmaking major (cleaning silkscreens with acetone , horror of horrors, before I knew any better!) and Photo instructor (mixing fixer and D-76 from powders) have heightened my chemical sensitivity too, unfortunately.

And thanks for taking the time to post the photos of the 3M mask, Atomizer, and those links, Doc. SpeedNeedle, I checked out your work on some other threads and it is so beautiful. You guys rock! Thanks again! Val

14

Hi Val,

Y’know, I used to work in a chem lab, lab TA, in addition to a bunch of other stuff and it occurred to me that something from there might just be very adaptable to what you’re doing. Something similar to what they were using at the screener I worked for to clean the screens with some pretty fierce solvents. That is, a modified sort of fume hood, hooked up to your exhaust fan. Call it a mini spray booth-

I’d suggest adding a rheostat or dimmer switch in there to control the fan, so it doesn’t start pulling your paint off target when you’re spraying. You could make it out of light plywood, fabric and frames, hey, could even make an experimental/trial model out of cardboard and duct tape. And make it to fold up, out of the way when you’re not using it.

I’ll note that this is a very crude sketch of a preliminary idea. You could clip on lights as well, as needed and where needed, lots of possibilities.

And with something like this, you’re not getting paint droplets anyplace else in the kitchen. Not only is your cleanup easier but it’s also your kitchen after all. I mean, they add enough stuff to food as is, no need to put in any extras.

hope that’s of use

doc…

15

Kokua, one year in Fla., the week before Surf Expo, I’m trying to get the last of the boards done for the show.

Of course in Fla. the week before the show always turns bone chilling freezing, I had reverse air/heat in my shaping room, taped plastic around my shaping stand from the ceiling and had a heated spray booth.

I was doing a cadmium red shortboard spray with my dual cartridge resperator on, the next few days I hacked out cadmium red lugies, bright red.!

I then read the paint can, cadmuim, selinium and a few other heavy metals that couldn’t have been good either.

I went to the doc’s and got a few hairs pulled out to be tested for heavy metals, I came back clean, dodged that bullet.

The bummer is the grim reaper has a full clip

16

Jim,

Use Naphthol Crimson instead of Cadmium. It’s a much nicer red, won’t kill you and cost less.

I used Cad Yellow for years until they came out with Bismuth Yellow. I’m Still alive so far.

17 
Howzit Jim, I was lucky that I had a seperate room for spraying so when finished I could shut the door and then take off my mask. One thing is when using an exhaust fan ( just a cheap box kind) all you have to do is look at the fan blades to get an idea of how much over spray is in the air. Before I had a place to set up my last shop I would do sprays outside with no ask and thoght the trades would carry the over spray away. But even then I was picking colored snot out of my nose, taugh me to always wear a mask, no colored snot then. Aloha,Kokua