[BlindHandyMan] Respirators and Dust Masks - Know the Difference
How often do you see someone wearing a pair of gloves to protect their hands or steel toe boots to protect their feet but when it comes to working in dusty or toxic conditions they seem to think its ok to not wear lung protection. As someone that use to paint Cars and Airplanes for a living I can't tell you how many shops I have worked in or visited where employees think its not manly to protect themselves from poisons and particulates. After the first few months of coming home and spending 10 minutes spitting out Auto body Primer and blowing my nose to get the auto body filler out of my sinuses I decided that any garbage I would take from my fellow workers was not as harsh as ending up in a hospital bed with lung cancer or some other disease. The fact is one of the worst problems for all trades people is dust and toxic fumes used in their workplace. For plumbers there is the problem of fumes from lead solder and PVC cements and particulate in the form of Asbestos insulation. For Carpenters there is the constant dust from sawing wood. Until a few years ago Pressure Treated Woods had highly toxic chemicals and still today there is a problem with inhaling both wood particles and the adhesives used in Plywood and Glue Laminated products. Insulation contractors have had Asbestos removed from their workplace unless they are working on old projects but there is a now little talked about problem with Fiberglass Insulation that has been recognized by both manufactures and the government to be a cause for lung damage. Additionally sprayed foam based insulation either iso or urethane have been known to damage lungs both at the time of inhalation and long term effects due to out gassing. Painters have to deal with Volatile Organic Chemicals and recently most manufacturers are moving to a Low VOC mix where water based stains and polyurethanes are starting to replace oil and petroleum paints. The fact is that anything that enters your lungs even if it is inert (not toxic) can end up causing severe health problems. So, what can we do to protect ourselves on the job? Well the very least we can do is follow Manufacturer recommendations when working with products that could enter our systems. You should always read the warning labels on products that you use and if you have any concerns that there could be additional problems because you work with the product on a day in day out basis then you can visit manufacturer's and government websites to get some more basic information. For people that think dust masks and respirators are a joke I hope they have a good health care plan and a manager that will visit them in the hospital and take care of their kids. Lets go over the basic differences between Particulate / Dust and Chemical / Toxin protection available to us. Dust Masks Our first line of defense in most situations is a dust mask. Everyone has seen them they are white paper masks that fit over your mouth and nose and help to stop the larger particles of dust and paint or other larger items from being inhaled. Their cost and quality can range a bit but because they have no chemical filtration ability you can only use them in situations where a good outside air supply is available and when volatile chemicals and pesticides are not present. A Volatile Chemical can be seen in Paint Thinners and Gasoline and other products of that type. This is something that you can't stop without filtration. Dust masks are generally good for: Cleaning up job sites Sawing Wood Painting Latex or other low Toxic Paints with a spray gun Light Sanding where no Lead Paint is involved Use of weed wackers and law mowers in dusty conditions. Proper use of a dust mask means that the mask will fit tightly on your face. If you have a beard or mustache you are probably out of luck. You can try using one but facial hair is not a known good filter of anything except food getting into your mouth. Other then that we need to move up to the next level of protection. Respirators There are two basic types of respirators. Charcoal Cartridge / Light and Medium Duty and Inline Forced Air (see next page) Charcoal Cartiridge Masks can do a pretty good job protecting your lungs for short periods of time if they are used correctly. Each Cartridge system has different products that it can protect you from. If you are spraying pesticides you do not want to use a Cartridge that protects against asbestos or some other particulate. READ THE PACKAGE! The cartridge canisters may look the same but they do not work the same and it may be just as bad as using no protection at all if you buy the wrong filter cartridge. One or Two Cartridge Masks The main choice of using a 1 or 2 cartridge mask is the amount of time that you will be working. Each cartridge has a life time of use and this may be from only a couple hours to many hours. When you use a 2 Cartridge System you extend your work time between cartridge changes and you also allow for better b
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Respirators and Dust Masks - Know the Difference
Not me man, when ever I go up in to the older part of my attic the mask and gloves go on before hand. Good post Ray. David Ferrin www.jaws-users.com - Original Message - From: Boyce, Ray To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 8:48 PM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Respirators and Dust Masks - Know the Difference How often do you see someone wearing a pair of gloves to protect their hands or steel toe boots to protect their feet but when it comes to working in dusty or toxic conditions they seem to think its ok to not wear lung protection. As someone that use to paint Cars and Airplanes for a living I can't tell you how many shops I have worked in or visited where employees think its not manly to protect themselves from poisons and particulates. After the first few months of coming home and spending 10 minutes spitting out Auto body Primer and blowing my nose to get the auto body filler out of my sinuses I decided that any garbage I would take from my fellow workers was not as harsh as ending up in a hospital bed with lung cancer or some other disease. The fact is one of the worst problems for all trades people is dust and toxic fumes used in their workplace. For plumbers there is the problem of fumes from lead solder and PVC cements and particulate in the form of Asbestos insulation. For Carpenters there is the constant dust from sawing wood. Until a few years ago Pressure Treated Woods had highly toxic chemicals and still today there is a problem with inhaling both wood particles and the adhesives used in Plywood and Glue Laminated products. Insulation contractors have had Asbestos removed from their workplace unless they are working on old projects but there is a now little talked about problem with Fiberglass Insulation that has been recognized by both manufactures and the government to be a cause for lung damage. Additionally sprayed foam based insulation either iso or urethane have been known to damage lungs both at the time of inhalation and long term effects due to out gassing. Painters have to deal with Volatile Organic Chemicals and recently most manufacturers are moving to a Low VOC mix where water based stains and polyurethanes are starting to replace oil and petroleum paints. The fact is that anything that enters your lungs even if it is inert (not toxic) can end up causing severe health problems. So, what can we do to protect ourselves on the job? Well the very least we can do is follow Manufacturer recommendations when working with products that could enter our systems. You should always read the warning labels on products that you use and if you have any concerns that there could be additional problems because you work with the product on a day in day out basis then you can visit manufacturer's and government websites to get some more basic information. For people that think dust masks and respirators are a joke I hope they have a good health care plan and a manager that will visit them in the hospital and take care of their kids. Lets go over the basic differences between Particulate / Dust and Chemical / Toxin protection available to us. Dust Masks Our first line of defense in most situations is a dust mask. Everyone has seen them they are white paper masks that fit over your mouth and nose and help to stop the larger particles of dust and paint or other larger items from being inhaled. Their cost and quality can range a bit but because they have no chemical filtration ability you can only use them in situations where a good outside air supply is available and when volatile chemicals and pesticides are not present. A Volatile Chemical can be seen in Paint Thinners and Gasoline and other products of that type. This is something that you can't stop without filtration. Dust masks are generally good for: Cleaning up job sites Sawing Wood Painting Latex or other low Toxic Paints with a spray gun Light Sanding where no Lead Paint is involved Use of weed wackers and law mowers in dusty conditions. Proper use of a dust mask means that the mask will fit tightly on your face. If you have a beard or mustache you are probably out of luck. You can try using one but facial hair is not a known good filter of anything except food getting into your mouth. Other then that we need to move up to the next level of protection. Respirators There are two basic types of respirators. Charcoal Cartridge / Light and Medium Duty and Inline Forced Air (see next page) Charcoal Cartiridge Masks can do a pretty good job protecting your lungs for short periods of time if they are used correctly. Each Cartridge system has different products that it can protect you from. If you are spraying pesticides you do not want to use a Cartridge that protects against asbestos or some other particulate. READ THE PACKAGE! The cartridge canisters may look the same but they do not work the same and it may be just as bad as using no protection at all if you buy t
