I saw a post the other day by a company offering to train epoxy glassing, and what kind of bothered me is in the glassing photos they showed. Nobody is wearing any safety protection.
It seems that if you are showing people how to do something… proper safety would be included. Even from a CYA standpoint, what happens if someone has a reaction in your shop?
It would seem logical to protect them to the hilt and then let them decided to skip the safety outside of your shop.
Its pretty much the only “glass shop” I have ever seen not using respirator even for epoxy.
Greg L. says a respirator isn’t necessary if you are n a large well ventilated area. After almost 30 years of wearing a respirator I was really glad not to. But now I am in a small glass room that is closed up and heated. So back to the mask. Better to err on the side of caution when my lungs are at stake. But I see your point about a training facility not showing the textbook safety procedures.
After many years of boatbuilding and surfboard making I haven’t had any problems. Yet. But I have been religious about respirator for fumes and mask for dust. That includes glassing 80’ hulls with barrels of epoxy at one time, glassing in small tight holes, or spray painting with iso-cyanides. Then going to my shop at night and making surfboards for fun.
I have seen people who have a heightened sensitivity to epoxy. Some develop it very quickly and can no longer even be around it wet or dry. Sounds like you are sensitive to some of fumes. Wear a respirator, change carbon filters every 24 hours of use. Keep the carbon cartridges or the mask in tupperware between use.
Yeah Ive been doing this a long time, Im a safety nut.
I had a friend die from epoxy fumes in the late 90s and since then… fanatic.
My main issue is with a company training" people, glassing without personal protection and telling customers its ok to not use protection… its perfectly safe.
Ill be the first to say Epoxy is WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY safer now than back then. More tech, better product, safer… But there was another OC guy Last yearw ho was in the hospital 4 days for epoxy related breathing problems.
Just because you can’t smell it doesn’t mean it isn’t harmful. Some of the worst toxins in our industries are not detectable to the human olfactory. The cyanide element in Awlgrip and Imron is odorless yet deadly.
You had a friend die of epoxy fumes? I’ve never heard of a case. What the hell was he using?
I’ve been doing this since 1980. We have always had reasonable ventilation in our shop. We have never worn masks. In fact no one in Florida wears masks and no one I know of (and I’d be the one to hear) has ever had a problem with fumes. RR Epoxy has 1/50th the fumes of polyester so it’s pretty easy to run a clean shop. Contaminated acetone is the most dangerous chemical in the shop. Any time there’s a bad reaction to epoxy, that’s nearly always the culpret. Occasionally sanding dust. We don’t use solvents in our shop and haven’t in 25 years. We use disposible gloves, not the playtex type that get washed. Contaminated acetone goes right through those and into your skin. Epoxy resin has pretty large molecules and can’t go through a nitrile glove without solvent.
So it kind of comes down to this, you don’t need masks if you have reasonable ventilation. If you leave the room and come back an hour later and there’s no real smell then your good. If you came back and it’s noticably fummy then you need to improve ventilation or get a mask. Don’t use solvents. This is really easy. Use scrap fiberglass to wipe you sqeegees. Use chip brushes for hot coats and after use throw them away. They cost 50 cents and you can’t clean them for 50 cents worth of acetone. If you get resin on your skin wipe off most of it and then wash the rest off with GoJo or Fast Orange. After sanding, especially glass, take a shower which includes washing your hair. Don’t sand in the morning and work all day in dusty clothes. Wash your clothes after sanding too. It’s important to be safe.
I’m going to start wearing mine all the time. I was only wearing it sanding. Full face. If my face is not completely covered, my skin burns for 2 days. When pouring the hardener, it lights up my nostrils. A very potent smell for me. But I’m one of those guys with lots of allergys that can’t even be around women with perfume without sneezing my ass off.
I think that if it is bothering you then obviously you should wear a mask. There are people out there that are very sensitive to all chemicals. I live with epoxy chemicals every day and have for 30 years. I’ve had over that time 100+ employees. I’ve also sold resin to thousands of people. Never any issues. In the Gougeon Brothers book they make the same statement. SP in Europe makes the same statement as well. My statement wasn’t, “NEVER WEAR A MASK.” If it obviously bothers you then yeah, wear a mask, absolutely. If you think it might bother you then wear a mask. Simple stuff here, just use your head.