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~ Dying to Create? ~
Most
of us like inventing new ways to work and making new products
to sell. We buy special adhesives, oxidizers,
resins, paints, and special finishes, to make our work more appear
sophisticated. We buy products that promise to help us work faster and
easier. Do
you read the use instructions on the labels?
How many of you believe what you read, when it says "Use in a
well-ventilated space." Do you think that means a
room with an open window? (It doesn't!) My
friend Barbara bought a spray adhesive and also a resin/hardener
combination. When she woke up one morning
with a rash on her face, neck, and on her hands she didn't have a clue
what happened. The rash just seemed to get worse, day by day,
so she took a picture and emailed it to her friends, saying "What do
you think this is?" When
I saw her puffy face and red rash I was horrified, but the area around
her eyes was almost normal. (She
wears
glasses, and we decided that if it was a contact rash, her glasses had
shielded that area.) "What
new products have you been using?" I asked. She
explained she was using a spray adhesive and a resin product with
hardeners. I
know that some resins and hardeners can gas off and cause allergy
reactions, and some spray products are dangerous. They
can damage your lungs, so I asked: "Did you get an
Manufacturer's Safety Data Sheet (M.S.D.S.)?
These are available in each store,
and through each wholesale supplier, by
law. The Manufacturer's Safety Date
Sheet explains the effects of exposure by inhalation, skin
absorption, etc. ) She hadn't thought of it. She
read the label to me aloud, -it contained zylene, toluene, and
other toxic substances. It said
specifically it was not to be used without 'adequate ventilation' and
that a mask should be used that conformed to NIOSH standards.
In other words, - with a ventilation SYSTEM and with a mask
with a special filter. The
doctor gave her prednisone for the rash, but the real damage could have
been to her lungs, heart, brain, and/or liver.
Hopefully one exposure did not do much damage. Barb says
she's not using those products again. (She wouldn't have
bought them if she had read the label.) I
couldn't help thinking this happens all the time with craftsmen who are
mostly self-taught, and are in
a hurry. We grab products off
the shelf if they appear to fit our needs, but often we forget to read
the label, or ask for M.S.D.S.'s, which give even more information.
M.S.D.S.'s explain the effects (if any) on the
user's organs, neurological system, skin, eyesight, etc. They
even give information about possible carcinogenisis, (the
probability of causing cancer), sterility, and other
undesirable effects through absorption of product through the skin, by
inhalation, etc.. So
why don't craftsmen and artists request M.S.D.S.'s all the time?
Many don't
even know about their availability.
Some people are innocents who think products wouldn't be sold
if they were dangerous, and some don't believe
the warnings on the
labels. Unfortunately,
spray adhesive droplets, wood dust, rouge dust, polishing dusts, etc.
can remain suspended in the air for up to 72 hours
. If you have children, they breathe it, too, and are at
risk. That's a major problem with home-based work shops - you
work, eat, sleep and live in the same space.
The
point is: Read the labels, ask for a M.S.D.S., believe what
you read, and use your tools carefully.
The ultimate
irony: the product label boasted that it contained "No
Flourocarbons" which means it won't destroy
the ozone layer, -it's only hazardous to your health.
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Are
you always in a hurry? Do you take time to
read labels before you use adhesives, oxidizers, solvents, resins,
hardeners and other chemical-laden products? Do you believe that "a
well-ventilated room" means 