Health effects of Epoxy

Gday

I have been reading about the use of Epoxy in amatuer boat construction and have read some stories about builders who have had adverse reactions to Expoxy during the build process.

Does anybody have any first hand accounts of using epoxy and having a reaction to it??

What precautions should be made with using the epoxys???

Are there similar porblems associated with the use of polyester and vinylester???

Any info would be great

cheers

Nick:r:?:

 

Concerning polyesther, well the styrol fumes ate noz reallly good either.
Epoxy requires some care with work safety. Allways wear vinyl gloves, avoid skin contact. allways wear a good dust mask when sanding. Once you developed a allergic sensitivity you are out of the game.

 

I have never had a problem

Don't take a bath in it....

If you are one of those persons who has an allergy it may be tough to use epoxies professionally and never become sensitized.
All users should just keep the goo off their skin and mind grinding any green epoxies.

The best way to manage exposure is through good systematic approaches to your glass work. Don't get in those situations where the job becomes a battle and one of the casualties is the goo spread far and wide including all over the worker...
Don't scratch your nose with gloved hands when doing layups-

You haven't seen funny till you see a guy turn around to grab a roller and have a whole sheet of epoxy soaked fabric peel off a hull and drape over the poor sod.
Try to keep this from happening and you will be ahead of the game

 

Some basics:

In general, the amines are causing most trouble. Try and source an epoxy that is known to be more friendly to people, if you are concerned.

Avoid all contact with epoxy. Use protective clothing if things might get messy, and ALWAYS use gloves. The only suitable gloves for epoxy are nitrile gloves, which usually are twice the cost of latex gloves. (what is the price of your health?). Latex or vinyl gloves are not suitable. For large projects, you could get some neoprene gloves as well. These are thicker, thus stronger.

If you spill epoxy on your skin, immediately wash with plenty of water and soap, or vinegar. DO NOT USE SOLVENTS to wash your skin. This will immediately transfer the material into your skin and bloodstream. You can test this with the "onion test". Cut an onion in half, and place the cut side on top of your hand. What do you taste? Nothing. Now do the same, but first wet the top of your hand with acetone. What do you taste? Onion...

Try and ventilate. Most more friendly epoxy resins do not fume (much) but no-one got killed because of some fresh air.

Oh, and rules, regulations and law do not replace common sense...

 

Herman is right on.

I was initially concerned with using epoxy, but after having used it for several months (daily, 7 days a week or so), I am quite content with the stuff.

Just do everything you can to keep it off your skin and ventilate when it is curing. Wear a respirator when applying. You shouldn't smell it at all if your respirator is working.

One major thing is your clothing and shoes. Don't wear the same shoes and clothing you worked in epoxy with back into the house. It will get everywhere.

Just be very neat with the stuff. That's the key to avoiding health effects.

Also, I have noticed large differences in "toxicity" between various epoxies, even within the same manufacturer.

For toxic epoxy, get a batch of 5 minute epoxy from the local hardware store, mix that up and apply it to something. That smell is terrible and seems pretty toxic.

Most of the name brand epoxies in the USA are formulated to be easy on people. I use System Three. Even within System Three, the General Purpose is a little more pungent than the Silver Tip. System Three fast hardener makes it the worst. Gasses off a lot.

Silver Tip... I have swam in it and it didn't even bother my skin at all while the General Purpose made me itch a little from irritation.

Don't be too nervous. With clean work, you should not develop an allergy because it takes exposure to develop an allergy.

I read this somewhere:

Everyone will become allergic to epoxy at some point. Each person has a certain number of hours of skin contact before they become allergic. No person knows how many hours it will take them, so the best practice is to just avoid all skin contact.

Nitrile gloves are the BEST. I gladly pay extra for them because they not only protect better, they also last much longer, so they end up being cheaper in the long run.

The hardener (amines) are the worst part... caustic and will cause immediate itching and redness on the skin. The resin is fairly tame and doesn't seem to cause any problem on my skin.

Oh and one thing to always remember is to step into a full roller tray of epoxy as you start each lamination. Step right into the middle of the pool of epoxy and then trip a little to flip the roller tray over your foot, soaking your protective pants and your shoes, making a big puddle on the floor. If you do it right the roller tray should end up upside down with no epoxy left in it. I seem to do this each time I start laminating a new hull. The laminations come out beautifully when I do this, so it seems to be the secret trick.

 

As for the gloves; latex gloves are also career enders. One fine doctor I had the privilege of working with(as a medical records coder) developed a severe allergy to latex gloves. He switched his practise to anesthesiology but had problems with his hands from then on. He could only wear the nitrile gloves until his retirement.

 

Herman is correct.


Take proper precautions and most people have no problem...

TAKE PRECAUTIONS . They are written in every epoxy use manual. Be particularly careful with green..week old epoxy residue...dust. .

 

I became sensitized to epoxy

I thought I was being careful w/epoxy but in the end I discovered I was not careful enough. I used nitrile gloves and wore reg blue jeans and tennis (rubber) shoes. Occaisionally I would drip a spot of epoxy on my jeans and did not notice so the glue hardened into the jeans cloth. After working with it for a year I had to fair out my hull and being in a hurry, I applied epoxy one day and sanded it down the next w/o wearing a dust mask. I believe this is what done me in. My whole body broke out in a severe red rash very similar to poison Ivy rash. The itch was unbearable. I stayed away from epoxy for 2 weeks and the rash went away. After that I was much more careful working with the stuff. I wore a haz-mat suit along with my nitrile gloves but no respirator. There are no fumes (zero) with West System epoxies. I waited for the full 2 weeks cure time before sanding epoxy and wore no dust mask. Fully cured epoxy is not toxic at all. I did not wear nitrile gloves when sanding. If I got any sanding dust on my hands, I washed it off w/soap & water witin 5 minutes. I have been working this way full time for 4 additional years with no futher episodes of toxic exposure. I have now completed my 50' sailing yacht and will be launching in approx 6 weeks. At the end of the day I would say do not fear epoxy; just respect it and it will leave you work in peace.
Have a Spiffy G'Day
Earl

 

I will also add that you need to be very careful of foam cores.

While trying to learn about thermoforming and trying different techniques of heating foam, I crisped some of it.

I had no idea the foam gave off hydrogen cyanide when overheated. I suddenly felt very ill and went to the emergency room. They hooked me up to all the machines and had to keep me overnight while treating my 120BPM heart rate and severely acidic blood. I couldn't eat, my entire digestive tract purged and it cost me a fortune.

It was a horrible experience. So remember... foam can be much more deadly than epoxy is a nuisance.

Be even more careful with foam.

 

What a utter nonsense!

West is just a brand and delivers several completely different "tastes" of stuff. If you bath in any West hardener, be sure you will get a "positive" result after a while.

Wearing no dust mask while sanding shows that you are a complete idiot! Is the dust improving your weak health?
So, what are we learning from your elaborations?
Nothing

Epoxy resin is completely harmless once cured. The majority of resins available to the homebuilder are relatively harmless even when you bath in it.
Almost all hardeners (curing agents) cause allergic reactions when one has a skin contact, avoid that by ALLL means.

Spiffy good day?

Hägar

 

1. Most people are not sensitive to epoxy.
2. Many will develop a sensitivity with time, for some it may be 20 years, some only a couple of exposures and the unlucky few will get hospitalised after a single exposure.
So before you commit to a project test your self.
3. It is not true that there are zero fumes with epoxies, only that there are no solvent fumes. A common mistake when trying to deal with high humidity is to work inside a plastic tent.
4. Fully cured epoxy is not toxic, but it is impossible to have 100% cure. Depending on the formulation, cure conditions and accuracy of proportioning the components you may only have 90 - 95% conversion rate. So when sanding there will always be some unreacted components in the dust.

 

Andrew:

1. Correct. The funny thing is that native African people (Negroides) usually are far more sensitive than Kaukasian people. We found that out in the epoxy flooring industry. It was hard to keep Negroide people, for the effect on their skin. (and no, this is not an attempt to discriminate)

3. Correct. It must be said that epoxy resins basicly designed for flooring develop much less fumes. It is not nice if a 10.000 m2 (100.000 sqft) fresh epoxy floor starts fuming...
Also the industry is cutting on nasty chemicals, like nonyl phenol.

4. True. Protect yourself at all times. Try and work with dust extraction at all times, and wear masks.

If you do not like masks, buy a full face mask with air supply. This keeps a fresh breeze over your face, so transpiration is less problematic as well. There are units for compressors, or with battery powered air pump with filters, which can be carried on your belt. You might look stupid, but in the end you are a winner.

 

So many posts agreeing on the safety of using epoxy and not to bathe in it. As I read along I felt sure that some one would actually mention even in some small way what the effects of epoxy allergy would be.

I do grind without a mask and I get it on my skin too --because I dont wear gloves. Being a blithering idiot you see I have had no --well side effects or back aches ---what ever it is your supposed to get.

However the point is, is not to go on and on agreeing about the safety of it as above but what do you get if your allergic to it.

Teeth drop out ,swollen nipples, itchy knob, hair loss, descending testicles what---?

 

Contact dermatitis.




AND descending testicles...

 

...and contact dementia.