Sandblasting warning

[Sonic EscapeParticipant @sonicescape38234]

Yesterday I borrowed an air compressor from a friend and I bought a Yato YT-2375 sandblasting gun. I bought also a bag of silica (quartz) sand. It is very cheap, 2 euro a 25kg bag. I give it a try on a 73 year old paint. Previously I tried a chemical paint stripper that had almost no effect. The results were quite good. The pressure was set to 6 bar.

When I went back home I started to read more about sandblasting and I discovered that silica sand is very dangerous. It breaks into very fine (~10μm) dust that is bad for lungs. It is banned in a few countries. In one place it was mentioned that even a short exposure to silica dust cand cause serious health problems. And a mask would not help much since the dust cloud stays a lot in the air or is lifted back from the ground. I was not aware of this and I saw many videos with people doing the same thing. I hope this info might be helpful to others.

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/92-102/default.html#:~:text=Abrasive%20blasting%20with%20sands%20containing,respirable%20crystalline%20silica%20during%20sandblasting.

 

[Mike HurleyParticipant @mikehurley60381]

Good to highlight this. Like many folk, I always assumed it wasn’t too healthy, but if you used common sense and a mask you’d be OK.

Didn’t realise many of the hidden dangers outlined in the publication you gave the link to. Well worth a read for anyone using this stuff.

regards Mike

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

OH Dear ! 40 years ago I used silver sand as a medium – did use a mask ! The results were spectacular, quick and easy. OH WELL ! Noel.

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

At more than 70 years old the paint is also likely to be lead based, which is also fun to breathe.

Sand is a one shot abrasive, the second time being half as useful as the first. Copper slag (the black stuff copper oxide) is both much heavier and sharper and therefore much more efficient.

Those little suction guns sometimes pick up too much media and choke.

[CirclipParticipant @circlip]

“Forgive them Lord for they know not what they do”

Reading safety instructions BEFORE operation is always a good idea for the great unwashed not brought up in an Industrial environment where our mentors emphasised their instructions with a piece of 4 x 2 (50 x 100).

Regards  Ian.

[Ex contributorParticipant @mgnbuk]

Sand is used for cleaning buildings, but the operators who undertake the work use air fed protective hoods. I would not use sand without similar levels of respiritory protection & dust control to using two pack paint.

My paternal grandfather worked in a local sandstone quarry cutting & polishing stone His death certificate named silicosis and pneumoconiosis as the cause of his demise before he was old enough to draw a state pension. He was also a heavy smoker, which would not have helped matters, but seeing him shortly before he died unable to walk 20 yards before needing to stand for 10 minuites or more desperately trying to breath was enough to prevent me ever trying smoking & never being tempted to use sand in my blast cabinet.

Various proper blast cabinet media in different grit sizes are available for different purposes – I have used fine glass beads for cleaning aluminuim components, de-rusting steel parts & stripping paint. I found wth my cabinet that hooking up an extractor to the breather port in the cabinet wall helped a lot in keeping dust under control – made seeing inside the cabinet while blasting better as well. Before I got the cabinet I had one of the guns that pick up grit from a dip tube (probably similar to yours) & used a “disposable” grit from Frost Auto restoration to de-rust and paint strip a motorcycle farme & assorted parts. This was a coarse black sharp grit that was supposed to break down in use. It worked well but was very messy – I used this at work (bigger compressor) using a large tarp to try & contain the mess. Later for cleaning & removing paint and corrosion from some BMW motorcycle engine castings I built a plywood cabinet – better for keeping the dust under control & being able to cycle the glass bead media within the cabinet, but still ended up filthy using it. Currently have a steel bench top blast cabinet with built-in gloves which, when used with an extractor, is reasonable clean in use with glass bead media. I’m still using the smae glass bead that I bought a 20kg sack of to do the BMW parts over 20 years ago – being able to cycle the media within a cabinet makes for economical usage.

Nigel B.

[David George 1Participant @davidgeorge1]

Recently there was a warning of workers fitting kitchen worktops not using full head gear with forced ventilation getting silicosis

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
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To ask His Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to restricting the use of engineered stone, following the decision by Australia to ban it; and whether they plan to make silicosis a notifiable disease.
Column 215is located here
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions
(Viscount Younger of Leckie) (Con)
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My Lords, the Health and Safety Executive, HSE, is not currently considering restricting the use of engineered stone. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations already require employers to put in place measures to prevent workers being exposed to respirable crystalline silica. This includes adequate controls ensuring compliance with the workplace exposure limit and health surveillance identifying potential ill health. HSE keeps requirements for reporting occupational diseases under review and is not currently making silicosis reportable.
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
(GP)
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I thank the Minister for his Answer, but Australia acted after it found that one in four stonemasons had incurable, debilitating and sometimes fatal silicosis. Estimates suggest that, in the UK, 1,000 people a year die from silicosis as a workplace disease and many more suffer from debilitating conditions—not just stonemasons but construction workers, engineers and agricultural workers. Surely the Government should at least look into this further and get more data on a problem on which Australia, which is broadly comparable to us, has found it crucial and essential to act.

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Many years ago I used a pressure washer with a wet sandblasting attachment to clean a vintage car chassis before re-painting.  There was no dust in the air at all.  Those attachments are a bit too powerful for small parts.  Are there any wet blasting kits available that are suitable for finer work?

Russell

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

During my professional career I twice came across cases of silicosis. Both cases involved a single huge lymph gland on dogs. We’re talking a gland becoming the size of a satsuma on a medium sized dog. Samples submitted for histopath came back as containing silicate crystals. In neither case could we determine a specific cause and both patients had no further consequences after removal although one case did occur possibly related to the removal of a storage heater.

Asbestos is a silicate is it not?

 

PGK

[pgk pgk]

On pgk pgk Said:

[…]

Asbestos is a silicate is it not?

 

PGK

It is indeed … but [if you will excuse the pun] that is not really the point.

The major contributing factor to Asbestosis is the shape of the fibres, and their tendency to split lengthwise, into ever-more-hazardous fibrils.

This page includes some good SEM images:

https://www.ecfia.eu/facts-asbestos-2/

… the likelihood of sand being shattered into such forms is infinitesimal

That’s not to say that the sand is benign, of course !

MichaelG.

[pgk pgk]

On pgk pgk Said:

Asbestos is a silicate is it not?

 

PGK

Yes but it a filbrous material unlike the dust causing silicosis. Asbestosis and silicosis are different but do have some similarities.

Russell

[Ches Green UKParticipant @chesgreenuk]

This is a sobering article from the USA in 2016 …. ‘Dust Collection Basics‘ – Blog – https://billpentz.blogspot.com/

It focuses mainly on wood dust (Silica) but equally applies to all fine dusts.

Extracts –

“This blog provides an overview of dust collection. Although this blog targets woodworkers, it applies to all who work in dusty air such as those who work with stone, sand blasting, finishing, fiberglass, coffee roasting, etc. This blog defines and explains the differences between the two main types of dust collection, chip collection and fine dust collection. It shares why there is so much small shop dust collection confusion. It also defines the different types of airborne dust and shares the risks associated with fine dust. This blog shares what hobbyists and small shop owners can do to better protect themselves with much better fine dust protection and collection.

————-

Before my shop was tested it had been three months since any woodworking and during that time my cars constantly went in and out. Still, the dust levels in my shop were so high that a couple of hours in my shop generated more exposure than commercial woodworkers get in months of full time work. At these exposure levels all should do our best to protect ourselves from too much fine dust exposure. The most certain and least expensive protection is wear a good NIOSH dual cartridge filtered respirator mask and use a strong fan blowing out a back door or window with a main door open a bit. We can minimize our exposure by also having good fine dust collection but this is much more work and expense.”

I now steer away from creating any dust if at all possible.

Ches

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