I’ve been getting right into working with Epoxy (on my personal boards) for the past 12 to 18 months. I’ve been asking around and researching over this time about the health effects Epoxy has on you.
About half the people I talk to say its better health wise then polyester and the other say its evil.
I recently did a big batch of Epoxy, doing all the epoxy work and sanding myself , I also shape in the room next door to the glassing area, my shaping bay had a fresh air feed but i was still around the epoxy quite a bit. I used a good chemical mask for sanding and glassing and a paper mask for shaping. Straight after doing these boards a got smashed with the flu in bed for 4 days and sick for going on one month now. I lost 2 kg (4.4 pound) and I was fit as before.
However a lot of people got real sick this year, It could have been a coincidence.
Please share your thoughts on Epoxy and your health.
The flu is caused by a virus, not resin. It’s very contagious and not surprising other friends are getting it. Especially, if you work together in a small enclosed space. Long term exposure to all the stuff we use to make boards is probably not good for you, though. Protect yourelf. Mike
It doesn’t attack the immune system … that’s ridiculas.
Simply, the stories that have gone through this industry over the years are absurd.
Here’s the rules:
Don’t use acetone, acetone can be a vehicle for epoxy to get into your system. Clean skin with waterless hand cleaner only.
Work in ventillated areas or wear a good quality, tight fitting mask.
Wear disposible gloves, preferably nitrile. DO NOT wear the playtex style reusables and think that’s protecting you. I can’t tell you how many laminators I’ve seen over the years use these in conjunction with acetone. Acetone goes right through those and so do all the other chemicals mixed into it.
Cover up when sanding … clean up after including a shower and hair wash.
I wear epoxy on my skin everyday, all day for over 25 years. So do many of my empoyees. NO PROBLEMS in over 25 years in any of our shops. We’re well ventillated, we wear disposible gloves and we don’t use acetone. Epoxy molecules are too large to get through your skin unaided. That means acetone. That doesn’t mean we aren’t careful and it doesn’t mean we don’t take precautions, but we deal with so much we invariably get it on us. Every problem I’ve ever seen has been with the co toxin acetone.
In our shop we deal with 50 times more epoxy than anyone in surfboards, plus we deal with the base chemicals, which are 10 times as potent as what you do. None of us have had the flu in a decade.
If you are really concerned do a search on the internet for “epoxy resin MSDS” and read the various Material Safety Data Sheets for different epoxy resins. All will tell you that the stuff is relatively harmless. You will find that most have a Health rating of 2 which basically means it’s harmless. Most will tell you that it has acute toxicity for ingestion. This basically means you can practically drink the stuff and still survive. Now once you are satisfied, do a search for “polyester resin MSDS” and then prepare to really get scared.
If you were sanding with only a paper mask that doesn’t seal very well against your face, you could have been inhaling dust which would weaken your respiratory system and make you more susceptible to the flu virus. This is a much more likely explanation.
Hey Greg, my wife is sick now, and I’m seeing spots…and…damn, water just leaked out of my nose onto my keyboard after glassing my CF rails and skins on my new compsand. What do you say, can Sam compensate me with a gallon of some fresh stuff to avoid the legal proceedings.
I use the kinetix nearly every day and haven’t noticed anything different from poly resin. I personally think it is much safer. No terrible fumes. But I still tarp up when I use it.
In regards to the flu, I think just about everyone on the east coast got a dose of it this year. There is a wee rumour going around that it was those funny people who came out here for the World Youth Day to praise Jeebus or some other crazy deity and they brought a terrible case of influenza with them, Some even had to be quarantined. Just what I heard.
I’ve been getting right into working with Epoxy (on my personal boards) for the past 12 to 18 months. I’ve been asking around and researching over this time about the health effects Epoxy has on you.
About half the people I talk to say its better health wise then polyester and the other say its evil.
I recently did a big batch of Epoxy, doing all the epoxy work and sanding myself , I also shape in the room next door to the glassing area, my shaping bay had a fresh air feed but i was still around the epoxy quite a bit. I used a good chemical mask for sanding and glassing and a paper mask for shaping. Straight after doing these boards a got smashed with the flu in bed for 4 days and sick for going on one month now. I lost 2 kg (4.4 pound) and I was fit as before.
However a lot of people got real sick this year, It could have been a coincidence.
Please share your thoughts on Epoxy and your health.
Thanks in advance
It’s much safer, but more allergenic. Wheat and peanuts are also allergenic. I personally know of 3 individuals who have both formulated and work with epoxies: Pedro Vasquez, Matt Campbell, and Loehr. Not only do they tout the RELATIVE safety of their epoxies (as compared to polyester resins, among others), but they back up what they tell their customers by working with their products. Based on what I consider very credible testimony from them, and my own experiences which are not inconsiderable, it’s much, much nicer than polyester resin. There are cautions and procedures that must be heeded and they are found on this forum and many other places. Not going to go into it here.
I mean, I got it on my dick and it didn’t burn it at all. Try that with some poly resin.
I saw a guy just today in the eye clinic who got some epoxy in his eye. Probably won’t have any permanent dammage but it was quite sore and red two days after the incident. Don’t forget the eye protection when using epoxy or any other chemical.
I saw a guy just today in the eye clinic who got some epoxy in his eye. Probably won't have any permanent dammage but it was quite sore and red two days after the incident. Don't forget the eye protection when using epoxy or any other chemical.
There ya go—if it had been MEKP he’d likely be blind.
Of course if it had been a peanut well now… too scary to even contemplate
