My Big mistake with spraying

[Colin Jacobs 1Participant @colinjacobs1]

I bought a bird table in the winter which was joined by a poor tounge and groove joint vertically, so I set about making and after market kit of four flat drilled plates to strengthen the wood and sell them as an after market service.

The set of four plates are charged at a fiver and I have made 100 and all have sold. via the shops that sell these bird tables on a 60 40% sellers fee.

I began making another 100 this weekend. and sprayed them with Red Oxide. But I bought a large can of professional use Grey primer and as it was a windy day I sprayed in my workshop, The fumes were strong and no way could I light a fag in there. I though no more about it.

well at 2am this morning I was so ill!! Massive hangover type headache, vomitting and generally ill, the headache was massive It really worried me

12 hours later I felt much better, It must have been the spray, I had no mask on and was a right you know what. I am so ashamed thats why I am writing this.

 

I coughed into a hanky and the grey paint was obvious.

 

 

 

[Colin Jacobs 1Participant @colinjacobs1]

Not wearing a mask made me really ILL

[Charlie,Participant @charlie18171]

Hi Colin,

A nasty experiance no doubt about it,But there is always a plus side to almost

any situation,Just imagine if you had decided to light up a fag, You would then

not have had to suffer all those ill efects,

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

>Ouch< I hope you’re OK now.

 

I filled/sprayed part of the car on saturday, but on sunday got caught by the rain and it ended up with a primer-coloured wing.

 

So sprayed it monday night – and the paint is a comletely different blue to the colour on the can! Better than rusty dent…

Neil

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Some years ago we had a spill of an industrial solvent. A couple of operatives donned gas masks to clear up the mess while everybody else retired to a safe distance. But, crucially, the masks had dusk catridges fitted, not vapour. One of the operatives ended up with permanent lung damage. So, a salutory warning that your PPE is appropriate to the task.

 

Rod

[Cyril BonnettParticipant @cyrilbonnett24790]

worked for a guy once who sprayed cellulose laquers in his workshop with a wood burning stove going, no mask or ventilation. He is still with us, well into his seventies! Never seemed to affect him.

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

One dose of grey primer won’t likely do any permanent damage, but for future ref please get a proper VOC AND dust rated mask and use it, and spray only outdoors. We don’t want to lose you or any other ME’s.

 

Modern paint has some very nasty chemicals in it, and grey primers often have styrenic fillers which are really bad for you if they get in your lungs. Bottom line – don’t breathe paint fumes.

 

Old cellulose did have toluene and xylene in the thinners, lots of car painters working from the 40’s to 60’s died young as a result. My father was a 50+ year car mechanic and had several friends who were painters or body men that were among the young casualties.

 

JD

[adyParticipant @ady]

Everyone I knew from the shipyards in the 1960s is now gone.

Everyone else from that era I knew is still going despite some serious attempts at self inflicted liver failure.

 

The industrial revolution had a high cost.

 

Even in the 1970s/1980s there were guys wading about in benzene wearing welly boots and BA sets. Big boils from exposure to chemicals used to be quite common.

Edited By ady on 21/07/2011 02:01:51

[RICHARD GREEN 2Participant @richardgreen2]

Colin,

I know what you mean by a massive headache, I’ve had some real “growlers” after using spray paint in aerosol cans, some lasted for up to three days, all the fancy headache pills made no difference at all, now I only use spray paint outdoors, and also use an industrial mask as well,

Cheese is another thing, I love it , but if I have any ………………..same result.

 

Richard.

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

When I was a lad, I was in the garden doping a model boat. My brother notioced that the pet tortoise was going crazy tring to getvthrough a low metal fence to reach the source of the smell!

 

He was quite a character that tortoise, we had a plastic life-size one as well, and he used to headbutt it in the side. years later we discovered this was how male tortoises do their courting, fortunately he never got past first base!

 

On toluene, my old chemsitry teacher used to complain at having to use it as they had banned benzene in schools. Mind you he had some gruesome tales, and there was the exploding teabag incident!

 

Neil

[Author]

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