Other Epoxy resin contact to skin
- Thread starter Tyler Zane
- Start date
Speleopower
got a Superjet
- Location
- Cocoa Beach
You can acquire and allergy to it over a short term contact or over years. Best to protect yourself anyway just in case. Most of the time I only wear gloves and use a fan set to high to blow the fumes away and out the garage door.
An old dude friend was working at a lab where they were developing epoxy several decades ago and his best story is when a group of workers developed a new kind of epoxy mix and when they mixed it together they ran out of the room and just after they closed the door to the lab the pot with the epoxy mix in it exploded. He said it absolutely covered everything in the room. Plus some of it cured in flight and he said it was like little bb's that pockmarked a lot of stuff. The workers that did the mix never made that mix again.
Scott
An old dude friend was working at a lab where they were developing epoxy several decades ago and his best story is when a group of workers developed a new kind of epoxy mix and when they mixed it together they ran out of the room and just after they closed the door to the lab the pot with the epoxy mix in it exploded. He said it absolutely covered everything in the room. Plus some of it cured in flight and he said it was like little bb's that pockmarked a lot of stuff. The workers that did the mix never made that mix again.
Scott
- Location
- Fort Worth, TX
I get it on my hands all the time and I am fine. I usually don't even wash my hands right away. I have even eaten with it on my hands and no trouble yet.
- Location
- Fort Worth, TX
I wear gloves while applying it but find its best to use bare hands as it is curing to make sure the glass all stays down with no air bubbles
- Location
- Down stream of Harrisburg, PA
While reinforcing once I was wearing a head light ( an elastic band with a flashlight in the front ) for better visibility. I must have gotten some resin on the head band where it contacted my forehead, and I broke out in red bumps across my forehead for a few days. Have had similar reactions on my wrists where my gloves didnt cover. I'm a lot more careful now!
That sounds like a horrible practice. "Oh hai guyz, I do this all the time and I'm fine!"
Really no offense to you, but do you really think this is wise? Are you certain that there won't be any long term health effects?
Why take any chance at all when it is so damn easy to prevent contact?
Lol... Everything we do carries risk, how many people here smoke and drink? Gloves no gloves mask no mask , weigh up the options and risks and decide for yourself, after all it's your life. Me personally if I've got mask and gloves handy I'll use them, if not and it's a relatively small job I won't. Doesn't effect me either way.
Just in case some of you guys missed post #8...
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/general-safety-guidelines/
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/general-safety-guidelines/
- Location
- Atlanta, GA
I'm with you. Depends on the job. I don't do epoxy/fiberglass work as a full time job but when I do it for my skis I just use moderation. I'm not whipping out the mask and gloves to patch a bilge/pisser hole in the hull. But if I'm going to be grinding ribs down, sanding or doing lots of re-glassing on the hull and will be around it for a few hours I will wear gloves, a mask and make sure the area is well ventilated. Sometimes even doing stuff outside of the garage if there is going to be a lot of dust. Not just because of breathing it in but because it gets on EVERYTHING on the garage.
I have noticed when I wear gloves sometimes it is a nuisance because the epoxy may half way cure on the glove or rip and tear. I just try and use brushes and squeeges and If I get it on my skin I just wipe it off and the wash it off. I haven't had any reactions like others said.
- Location
- Fort Worth, TX
I don't do it all the time. I just find it easier to check the resin with bare hands as it dries. When it gets to that real tacky point I find that gloves stick to it when I go to press on it and make sure that all the air bubbles are out. Bare hands just seem to work best. When I am applying the resin I use gloves. I check the resin about every half hour as it dries for 2 hours and don't like to go in to wash my hands every time I check. Usually just wipe them off with a towel till i'm done then wash. Probably not the best thing to do but Its not like I do it everyday.
- Location
- Ontario CA
I use a lot of chemicals for work and good practice is to put on at two gloves at a time so if you get them dirty you can take off one pair and still be covered. A lot of these kind of chemicals take years to build up in your system before you start having allergic reactions to them, they effect the nervous system too. A couple bucks for safety goes a long way, also keeps the wife telling you off. Acetone works pretty good at cleaning resin off your skin imo.
- Location
- south dakota
when I was in tech for collision and refinishing we spent the first 4, 8 hour days, learning "how this job will kill you"... weather it's resin, bonding adhesive, paint, thinner, you name it... always use your ppe(personal protective equipment)... I've personally seen cases where the guy using the material didn't notice anything being affected, sad thing is, his kid paid every price for it, doctors told the guy his son was mentally ill due to his exposure to the chemicals he was dealing with... yea, this was a case of constant exposure, but what I'm getting at is don't think "you're fine" just because you think you are... it's not a laughing matter, you spend hundreds of dollars on materials, spend the extra few to protect yourself now, and you won't regret it later.. don't spend the extra now, you might regret it later...
I wear gloves solely because I don't want to wash my hands for 20-30 minutes in nasty chemicals trying just to get half of it off. US composites basically says gloves are a good idea but a respirator is only needed when there is poor ventilation and you notice fumes... If the manufacturer is willing to accept the liability that it's product isn't harmful in todays world of lawsuit happy idiots, I'm usually willing to accept that as well. http://www.uscomposites.com/faq_epoxy.html#18 (#18)
Vumad
Super Hero, with a cape!
- Location
- St. Pete, FL
When you put your gloves on, fold the part by your wrist back 1/4". When you take them off, grab this clean lip you made and pull the glove off your hand turning them inside-out. When you need to check tack, use the inside out glove and poke the resin with your finger through the glove. The amount of tach isn't going to be so specific that you can't tell with a gloved hand.
This works fine w/o the lip but having a lip makes sure you don't get epoxy on your wrist when you remove them. You could always just use a clean glove too, but that's wasteful.