Cleaning up a toxic spill

General Discussion
1

My garage is split into a “studio” and a shaping room.   The studio has a big work table in the middle and barn doors.

Today I was in ths shaping room working and I had my resin supplies on the tabke iun the studio.  Little did I know that it had gotten very windy and a gust knocked over a one quartg can of Additive F onto the cement floor.  It melted a couple of plastic vaccum cleaner attachments.  The smell in the studio right now is unbearable. 

Any tips  on how to clean up and detoxify the environment?

2

PU foam dust or sawdust to soak it up. Dispose of properly. Obviously blast a fan in the room to ventilate. The remaining xylene will evaporate over time and the smell will go away.

3

Cat litter to soak up any liquid.  Then spritz and scrub with 50/50 bleach water solution and a shop broom.  Smells better than Add. F.

4

…I remember when Loehr, the seller, always remind us that epoxy system do not have any odor…

5

Dang, that’s a bummer!

I dunno how to clean it up but it looks like you got some good tips above.

And, yep, epoxy doesn’t smell but Additive F STINKS!

The solution? (see what I did there???)

Get rid of it. You don’t need the Additive F anyways.

 

6

If I’m not mistaken there have been quite a few deaths of folks in the industry possibly related to toxic exposure to chemicals we frequently use.  How many of us actually pay any attention to the warning labels?  In California, they’re everywhere!  

Seriously - some of this stuff is pretty gnarly.  Xylene isn’t necessarily the worst and according to this, any side effects are reversible, but…

From Wiki:  

Health and safety[edit]

Xylene is flammable but of modest acute toxicity, with LD50 ranges from 200 to 5000 mg/kg for animals. Oral LD50 for rats is 4300 mg/kg.[18] The principal mechanism of detoxification is oxidation to methylbenzoic acidand hydroxylation to hydroxylene.[1]

The main effect of inhaling xylene vapor is depression of the central nervous system (CNS), with symptoms such as headache, dizziness, nausea and vomiting. At an exposure of 100 ppm, one may experience nausea or a headache. At an exposure between 200–500 ppm, symptoms can include feeling “high”, dizziness, weakness, irritability, vomiting, and slowed reaction time.[19][20]

The side effects of exposure to low concentrations of xylene (< 200 ppm) are reversible and do not cause permanent damage. Long-term exposure may lead to headaches, irritability, depression, insomnia, agitation, extreme tiredness, tremors, hearing loss, impaired concentration and short-term memory.[1][clarification needed] A condition called Chronic solvent-induced encephalopathy, commonly known as “organic solvent syndrome” has been associated with xylene exposure. There is very little information available that isolates xylene from other solvent exposures in the examination of these effects.[19]

Hearing disorders have been also linked to xylene exposure, both from studies with experimental animals,[21][22] as well as clinical studies.[23][24][25]

Xylene is also a skin irritant and strips the skin of its oils, making it more permeable to other chemicals. The use of impervious gloves and masks, along with respirators where appropriate, is recommended to avoid occupational health issues from xylene exposure.[19]