Hi everyone.
I've always read that resin is really bad for you when you inhale it. I've also read that resin really is bad for you and not one of those "warning labels" that can be found och just about anything.(I bought my kids a 2 meter long rubber killer whale and the warning says that children under three shouldn't play with it because they might swallow it!).
But what damage is it the resin does when you sand it for example?
Magnus
Cured resin is not a health hazard unless of course you swallow and choke on it. Uncurred resin such as the products sold by Micromark can be hazardous to ones health. This common type of urethane resin contains isocyanates which can enter the body thru inhalation, consumption or skin contact. Prolonged contact with this material can cause sesitivity to it. Rashes, alergic reactions and dificulty breathing can result from this sensitivity. good ventilation and rubber gloves can go a long way in preventing any problems with this material. I have been using it now for 15 years and have no ill effects from it. I have a down draft ventilation table and wear gloves when I am working with it. to the best of my knowledge there is no respirator that will filter out the toxins in this stuff. Grinding it will release dust and I have never heard of a safe dust to inhale. I have heard that the dust can be an irritant to the eyes and lungs. I wear a dust mask and have a dust collection system running on my sander when working with it. Of course I do this when working with wood as well.
With proper precautions you should be able to safely work with the resins with out any problems.
Dan Pikulski
www.DansResinCasting.com
PS: Magnus. Don't worry about your english grammar, it is better than most people who live in the states. Including me.
Take it from someone that found out the hard way, take every precaution when dealing with chemicals. Because I allowed myself to be exposed to chemicals without any protection, I now become very ill if I come in contact with even the smallest amount of anything such as rubbing alcohol...
Tracklayer
pike-62 wrote: Grinding it will release dust and I have never heard of a safe dust to inhale. I have heard that the dust can be an irritant to the eyes and lungs. I wear a dust mask and have a dust collection system running on my sander when working with it. Of course I do this when working with wood as well. With proper precautions you should be able to safely work with the resins with out any problems.Dan Pikulskiwww.DansResinCasting.com PS: Magnus. Don't worry about your english grammar, it is better than most people who live in the states. Including me.
Grinding it will release dust and I have never heard of a safe dust to inhale. I have heard that the dust can be an irritant to the eyes and lungs. I wear a dust mask and have a dust collection system running on my sander when working with it. Of course I do this when working with wood as well.
Hi,
Thanks for the compliment at the end I apreciate is as I try my best to make my self understood.
It's the dust that I have read about. Handling the resin it self is not a problem as I understand it, just the dust. I've read some where that it has asbestos like qualities? I don't know? I'm asking this because we are discussing it on a another forum and it would be nice to know. This dust issue is a thing that pops up everywhere and that it's suppose to be quite bad for you.
What I have been told is the dust is very much like asbestos. Once it is in the lungs it will not clear itself. What makes asbestos and other like materials so deadly is the fact they are fibrous and once they lodge themselves into the lungs, that's it they are there for life as the fibres act as anchors and the body is unable to flush them out.
Unfortunately I have not seen documentation to prove this but if you do a search on asbestos and the hazards associated with it you will get a very good idea what I'm talking about.
Fergie
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5959
If one could roll back the hands of time... They would be waiting for the next train into the future. A. H. Francey 1921-2007
Fergmiester wrote: MagnusWhat I have been told is the dust is very much like asbestos. Fergie
What I have been told is the dust is very much like asbestos.
I have heard this before but, never found any substantial proof if it. Mesothelioma, the disease primarily caused from asbestos, is formed when the sharp fibers lodge in the lung and iritate the cells to the point of forming scar tissue. This scar tissue then forms cancerous cells. While I will whole heartedly agree that this dust will not clear itself, comparing it to asbestos is a bit of a stretch. As a curred substance it is most like any common plastic and sands or grinds like one. The MSDS sheets for these resins do not have any warnings about the cured product. I still would recomend a dust mask when sanding this stuff as no dust is good to breath.
Dan
Lillen, I've done a lot of molding and casting as a model maker, and sanded more castings than I can count with no ill respiratory effects. I don't think these resins have a fibrous structure at all - they just sand into fine powder. If it were fibrous like asbestos, the powers that be wouldn't let you get within fifty miles of the stuff, much less allow it to be sold for hobby purposes. It doesn't crystallize when it cures.
The uncured components have a very mild odor, but I always mixed it with latex gloves under a ventilation fan to be safe. I've met plenty of modelmakers older than I am who started working with really noxious mold rubbers and urethanes years ago under less than ideal conditions, and they're still alive and kicking.
Nelson
Ex-Southern 385 Being Hoisted
I have a couple of things here.
First the MSDS sheets are for the product before mixing,after the product is mixed the MSDS sheets no longer apply as the chemical properties have been changed. MSDS sheets are for the product as shipped in original containers after mixing with anything else they no longer apply.
Second, any dust can be hazardous if inhaled, sand is bad if the dust is inhaled, silocosis, the same with paint dust from sanding. I use caution with any dust.
Just because someone hasn't had problems with the dust doesn't mean someone else won't. Like cigarettes, some get cancer some don't.
Richard
Alex
softball maniac wrote:Because first of all you can choke on it. It also has cemicals known to cause cancer.STAY AWAY FROM RESIN!SOFTBALL MANIAC
SOFTBALL MANIAC
Kind of a broad statement. Do you have any data to back this up? What components are the carcinogens? The MSDS sheet for the Smooth-on product I use has the following information for carcinogens listed under the Health section...
Carcinogenicity: IARC, NTP, and OSHA do not list any components of this product as a carcinogen.
I won't make a blanket statement that there are no carcinogens in all resins. The best method to determine what is safe for you is to read the MSDS sheets and understand what they are teling you. 15 years in the casting business has taught me to research the product I am using and know their effects it can have. The other thing I have learned is that there is a lot of misinformation that gets propagated due to lack of taking the time to learn about it.