building fiberglass boats - first hand experience

[peterAustralia]

Hi all,

I have just started a new job building fiberglass boats in Melbourne, for a large, reputable company. The boats are very good, high quality and a very nice finish. The boats are very sound and very well built.

One thing that surprises me is the amount of chemicals used in the process. There seems a huge amount of Acetone used to clean the boats. This goes on with rags and 95 percent of the time this is done without gloves.

There are also small jobs that require sanding and drilling. I wear a mask, but wound say 80 percent of these jobs done in the factory are done without a mask. As a glue and filler we use something called 'Matrix'. I am sure it is a good quality filler and glue. On the label it is stated as hazardous. When this is applied, it is often done without gloves. When I asked how to remove 'matrix' from my hands I was told to wash them with Acetone.

To remove 'matrix' from a Gel coat we use some sort of solvent. It may be Toluene, but I am not sure (maybe something less dangerous) . Chemical masks (with replaceable filter) are very very rarely used in my section.

Another issue is the fibers of fiberglass that arise from sanding, grinding and drilling fiberglass, these seem to get everywhere. I am learning to use a throwaway mask more and more. I am also learning that it does not pay to wear the same clothes as work as you do at home.

I am working in the assembly section. In the fiberglass layup section overalls with hoods and also masks are worn as the norm; so they seem a bit better protected.

By comparison, working with wood and epoxy was much more mild.

I do not want to leave my job as it pays well and I need the money. Plus I like building boats and want to do my own thing in the industry in a few years.

So.. what are the issues with all the chemicals I am using, are they dangerous, or just irritants. I guess it is smart to keep my mouth shut and not complain as I do not want to loose my job. At the same time I do not want to stuff up my health. I have worked in laboratories previously and there exposure to solvents was taken seriously.

It would be nice to get a job with a wooden boat builder here in Melbourne but think these jobs are hard to find. All the money, the jobs and the market is with fiberglass boats and I doubt that this will change in a hurry.

The money is good and I need it. No one else seems to complain. Any comments on all the chemicals I am using?


name not supplied this time..

[SchoonerRat]

Be a Wuss. Get yourself some protective clothing and skin barrier creams as soon as you can. Those things you are messing with are dangerous toxic irritants. If you don't feel that you can depend on your employer to keep you safe, and you like your job, than you owe it to yourself! With proper precautions, you can minimize the damage to your health.

[Captain Blight]

Agreed, your health is all important! If you're lying in bed with drains and tubes and watching your liver flop its way out the door, you probably won't be thinking how smart your were to save the money on gloves and a filter mask. Acetone is at the very least not good for your skin and I believe toluene is a known carcinogen.

BUY YOUR OWN SAFETY GEAR!!

You can get good nitrile gloves pretty cheap, even cheaper if you buy a case at a time. Wear cotton gloves underneath to keep your hands from pruning up so bad. A good (good!) half-face respirator only costs about 80 bucks US and a full-on, supplied-air helmet/hood about three times that. Tyvek coveralls will run you about ten bucks a week if you aren't too rough with them.

I'm sure it gets hot at your job, and the safety equipment will for sure make you sweat. The supplied-air helmet/hood will at least give you your own personal fan across your scalp and face, so maybe it might be kind of pleasant; that part of it anyway.

[tonydezoc]

Most fibreglassers I have known have been pretty lax about safety, most seemed none too smart either, but that may be from prolonged exposure to all those solvents. I have had some experience building grp boats and have absolutely no desire to do any more, although I am currently refitting a 40' grand banks but doing just woodwork. Best advise, look after your own safety, ignore the bravado of fellow workers who scoff at you, get into wooden boats asap. Ps I'm based in Perth WA and we are crying out for qualified wooden boatbuilders , so if you fancy crossing the Nullabor let me know. Tony

[PaulC]

In the states, there are right to know laws. These require your employer to let you know what you are exposed to. A Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) is also to be available to you at all times which tells you exactly what the exposure consequences, limits, protection required, etc. for those products in your work place.

Do a google on MSDS and acetone or toulene or any other products you think you are exposed to. Most manufacturers keep the MSDS's available on-line.

You do have a right to take care of yourself. Unfortunately, frequently its up to you too.

[GoldDogs]

The industries dirty little secret.

Look in a copy of professional boatbuilder mag(wooden boat's sister publication) and you will quite often see workers without protective gear working with dangerous chemicals in pictures.

very bad chemicals.

Polyester resin- styrene

Epoxy- chemicals that mimic Estrogen

Fiberglass- remember Asbestos? not much different really, will scar lungs and is now considered a carcinogen.

solvents- always bad, absorbs through skin/breathing.

Acetone- bad

What could happen to you? kidney and liver disease, cancer, nervous system damage, more.

It costs money for daily chem filters, gloves and suits, the industry claims it protects people but then you see them as you have without protection.

The company should supply you with ALL the safety equipment you need, if not, look for a job elsewhere, its not worth dying over.

Don't make a stink, just tell them you need the approved gear before you will work with X, you may have to buy a suit and respirator out of your own pocket but they should supply respirator filters and gloves at the least. Check the labor laws where you are.

[oldsub86]

Some folks gamble and get away with things like this to do their own boat but working at it day after day without proper safety equipment is just silly. You don't say how old you are but you will pay for this someday if you keep it up. Don't take chances.

Randy

[Captain Blight]

Ps I'm based in Perth WA and we are crying out for qualified wooden boatbuilders , so if you fancy crossing the Nullabor let me know. TonySo if a fella were (let's just say) in posession of USCG ratings for AB, tankerman, lifeboatman, and soon to get Mate of Towing Vessels and 200-ton Masters' papers-- and were a pretty good carpenter with a couple dories notched on his workbench-- and a good collection of tools-- Your company might be interested in helping out with the emigration process to Oz?

LOL (kinda)

[tonydezoc]

So if a fella were (let's just say) in posession of USCG ratings for AB, tankerman, lifeboatman, and soon to get Mate of Towing Vessels and 200-ton Masters' papers-- and were a pretty good carpenter with a couple dories notched on his workbench-- and a good collection of tools-- Your company might be interested in helping out with the emigration process to Oz?

LOL (kinda)
I'm afraid there isn't a "company" as such just me and another boatbuilder and a large shed, on big jobs we project manage and do the woodwork and put engineering/glassing/ painting etc out to other contractors, we have looked into employer sponsored visas before I think they are called 457 visas but the obligations for the employer are too much for such a small operation. Australia is crying out for skilled migrants however but the process is slow and costly, you seem to be well qualified for boatwork and you could probably apply on that basis. We would be happy to take on a skilled non-boatbuilder as a trainee.

[Dutch]

You dont need money bad enough to sacrifice your health. How many old guys do you work with? Do you wonder why?

Do your self a favor and find another profession before you do yourself permanent damage.

By the way- professional, fulltime wood boat building aint a whole lot better for you if at all.

[Jim Ledger]

Aside from the physical dangers posed by solvent exposure be careful of the subtle side effects that affect your mood and thought processes. Acetone and lacquer thinner are powerful depressants and can negatively impact your mood and outlook in the short term. Some people are more susceptible than others, obviouosly. Washing your hands in acetone will give you a hell of a dose of inhaled fumes, aside from the skin absorbed exposure. Keep an eye on your mood throughout the day and see if there are any changes to your usual personality. I try very hard to remove any source of solvent fumes from my work area and wear protective masks when I have to work with these materials. I've worked in FG boatbuilding operations and would not do so again, for this reason.

[tonydezoc]

[

Dutch, I've got to take issue on this, I have been very fortunate to have worked alongside many senior traditional boatbuilders in my working life, most if not all of whom worked up to retirement age and some beyond it, this may be pertly due to the low wages and associated poverty that went with the job in the old days, true there are still hazardous substances, and machinery, in trad boatbuilding, but nothing compared to grp building, personally I hope to work at this into retirement. How many people in other jobs do you hear of taking early retirement.

[Wild Wassa]

Dutch is right, when it comes to boat builders working in resin and glass ... "How many old guys do you work with?"

In glass work? ... only me. The workers here are all young. I'm pushing it and I'm having a forced break because I need it health wise, and so does my body need a break.

I have three friends, all qualified builders, who have worked on building super yachts and racing dinghies. All three left full time work in the industry, before they were 30 ... because of the severity of the work.

There is lots of money to be made but I don't think it is worth it sustaining the battle for only being on wages. Learn your trade quickly and then go freelance. High intensity rapid work is the go in glass, make a month's salary in 4 days and then get away from it for the following 3 weeks. The stuff has to harden anyway before you pop a mold.

It is extreme work, I've been doing glass work for 6 days a week for the last 5 years ... less the time off for regattas and the odd wooden boat restoration. I own most peoples' boats that I've worked on. They know it too.

I was going to live to be 150 years of age but having worked in glass and the solvents, I don't expect to live any longer than 120 now.

Kick boat Peter, just do it Mate ... until it doesn't feel right for you. You will be rich then anyway. With our skill shortage, you will be setting a minute by minute rate. It already happens here. It is $160 an hour for good glass workers, we are few and far between. Cutting and polishing 50 x 10 cm (yes 50 x 10 cms) of simple rebuild in glass is worth $1,000 for a quick gelcoat and then a cut and polish (above the rebuild). You will be able to afford your own respirator if you are any good ... maybe even afford a live in nurse and a housekeeper.

For your mental health, find out what your Boss charges his clients per hour. Then think about what he pays you to do that work per hour without adequate health and safety gear. Working for wages is good when you start in the industry ... you have to start somewhere. There is so much call for glass work out there ... put your feelers out now. If you're are going to die ... die on your own time.

Warren.

[SchoonerRat]

Kick boat Peter, just do it Mate ... until it doesn't feel right for you. You will be rich then anyway. With our skill shortage, you will be setting a minute by minute rate. It already happens here. It is $160 an hour for good glass workers, we are few and far between. Cutting and polishing 50 x 10 cm (yes 50 x 10 cms) of simple rebuild in glass is worth $1,000 for a quick gelcoat and then a cut and polish (above the rebuild). You will be able to afford your own respirator if you are any good ... maybe even afford a live in nurse and a housekeeper.
In So. Cal. we have much less of a shortage of skilled glass workers. I did a whole lot of glass work back in the mid to late '60s. It was still new, and hi-tech, and not too many people knew how to work with it. As stupid as I am now; I was a lot stupider back then. I rarely wore any protective clothing more than safety glasses. No rubber gloves. Hearing protection was almost unheard of. Sometimes a dust mask when grinding.

I got these great big welts on my arms. I had a bit of an ache in my chest when I took a deep breath. I had lots of headaches. Stomach ills. When I stopped working with glass I felt much better. I still didn't feel right---nobody ever told me that I shouldn't be out in the water after a storm. The best winter sailing here is the clearing wind right after a storm. Right after the giant hand has pushed the flush handle and cleaned all of the toxic sludge and animal droppings off the streets. Sailing an International 14 or a Hobie cat through that sludge in 20-30 kts. of wind, you might as well be drinking it.

Limit your exposure to the toxics, and you will reduce any ill effects on your health.

[Garth Jones]

I think I'll chime in here as well since I have more than a little experience with all the common solvents and stuff that is much, much worse (PhD in organic chemistry and many years in research labs). In your working environment you are exposed to a variety of hazards:

Solvents - as organic solvents go, acetone and toluene are not that horrible. Acetone's biggest danger is that it is VERY flammable. That being said, breathing acetone and/or toluene fumes every day all day is not a good idea. Washing a bit of goop off your hands occassionially is no big deal, but you ought to be wearing gloves anyway. In a well ventilated lab, common solvents such as acetone, toluene, hexanes, ethanol, and so on (anything that is non-halogenated and non-carcenogenic) may be handled outside a fume hood from time to time, but inside a fume hood is much better. Since your boat shop is probably not well ventilated, an organic vapor respirator is a MUST!

Liquid Epoxy - you never want this stuff on your skin. It's a sensitizer, and if you keep handling it without gloves, one day your will have a horrible allergic reaction and you will never be able to get near it again. That one day might be in ten years, or it might be next week. Latex gloves are no good, you need nitrile gloves.

Epoxy/FG dust - this hazard is farther away from my lab experience, but my understanding is that this sort of dust is a cause of lung cancer and various lesser lung problems. I would strongly suggest that all sanders be equipped with dust collection. If I sanded FG every day, I would wear the right sort of respirator.

Noise/eye danger - its' a shop, wear safety glasses and hearing protection.

I agree with various other posters would have said that this job is not worth your future health. Nitrile gloves, safety glasses, and ear plugs are not expensive and the respirators are a only a bit more. I do think that your employer should provide all the safety gear you need but if he won't, get them yourself or find another job.

That's my $0.02 anyway - I hope it is helpful.

Cheers,
Garth

PS Here's a cute way to look up MSDS's for free. Mallinckrodt Baker, a big chemical supplier, has them available for the products they sell. Use the search page at http://www.mallbaker.com/Americas/catalog/default.asp?searchfor=msds

[Nanoose]

Friend built his catamaran...developed a HUGE allergy by the time he was not quite done....finished, now off sailing the world with his wife....BUT, the reaction was TERRIBLE (probably Garth's note above about the liquid epoxy) and he can't get NEAR the stuff anymore.

[peterAustralia]

hi all

A short update. Have worked this week, Monday and Tuesday. Am learning new things and job is going fairly well. I still have a lot to learn.

Am earning just over $20 an hour on casual rate. The company makes motor cruisers, it is a very reputable company and well known. They have a good setup for filtering the air in the factory, however localized solvents / dust can be an issue. To make a boat it goes through a few processes, first is fiberglassing, second pre-assembly, third assembly, last is detail. In our section a $30k boat takes 2.5 days in assembly by one person. Do not know about the other sections. The fiberglassing section is big, so a lot of staff there, pre-assembly and detail are small. So my estimate for labour days on factory floor to make a $30k boat would be eight days, maybe less. This does not include materials, fittings or on-costs etc.

I have looked up Acetone on the internet. Does not look too bad. They have done animal studies and there is no correlation between acetone and cancer, so that is good! There is still the issue of fiberglass resin and dust.

I would like to work with wood boats ideally, but you have to go where the work is. I do not know the demand/supply ratio for wooden boat builders is in Melbourne. I am doing assembly, not fiberglassing/gel-coating, so I guess I am not developing the skills that pay $100 an hour. . Maybe I can ask for a transfer to that section.

I think I will stick with my job for a while, learn some skills, earn some money, build up some savings, get a good job history. Maybe in 6 months will enquire about a job in North of Western Australia in the mines up there. In my spare time will potter about with building some more wooden boats to improve my skills.

Thanks to all that contributed to this thread.

[Thermo]

I worked fairly heavily in FG for a couple years (sculpting, not boatbuilding, but it's about the same process on a smaller scale.)
I did all my work upstairs in the workshop with all the windows open and a door, and worked next to the door.

I wouldn't touch the stuff without gloves. Also, I wouldn't wash my hands with acetone or any solvent. I think Payson mentions that in his book as well, that solvents will tend to drive those chemicals deeper into your skin, where they are absorbed by your body.

He recommends borax, but I always used a heavy brush, soap, and water for uncured resin, and a scraper for cured resin, if it happened to get on me. I'd rather lose a few hairs on my forearm than get those chemicals inside me.

I knew another guy doing the same work I was doing from his own workshop, who was more cavalier about exposure than I was, and he ended up in the hospital with something seriously wrong with his liver.

[mmd]

I think I can chime in here with a small amount of knowledge, too; I have done quite a bit of work with GRP in the past (designs, built 'em, managed a GRP boat shop, taught advanced composites fabrication at a local college).

If you are in an assembly area of a GRP boat manufacturer, your primary exposure will be to general air pollution in the shop (solvent fumes & dust) and local dust (cutting, grinding, sanding). You say that the general air quality is pretty good, so we can leave that one alone. But local dust created from tools in your hands is another matter. When you are making dust, wear a particulate mask. The litle white disposable ones are good, but a fitted mask with replacable filters is better. The supplied-air type are ideal, but a bit cumbersome and expensive, and possibly overkill unless you spend hours every day making a dust cloud.

The other danger in assembly is the solvents used for cleaning and the adhesives used for bonding - some of the chemistries used in adhesives are truly noxious. Make sure that you have proper air circulation for the material being used, and always wear nitrile gloves. As mentioned above, some folks wear thin cotton gloves under the nitrile gloves, but I found that it reduced my "feel" for my work too much, so I usually wore powdered gloves alone. It's a personal thing, so try both and use what feels best for you.. but wear them religiously when mixing and using solvents and adhesives.

Read the warnings on all the chemistry you use - you are the last line of defense for your personal health. All chemistries (at least those manufactured in Europe and North America) are required to have MSDS (Manufacturers Safety Data Sheet) sheets published, and most of these are published on the Web. Google the product name followed by MSDS and you should get the safety information that you need.

On a lighter note, yes, you probably will make those who have to live around you much happier if you have "work" clothes and "home" clothes, and you don't let them mix. For gawd's sakes, don't wash your work clothes with the general laundry or everybody will itch! The GRP smell - actually the smell of styrene - is detectable in rediculously small amounts and some people find it pretty offensive. It also is readily absorbed in fabrics and such, so it will infest your car's upholstery, other coats in your closet, etc. Keep your work clothes segregated from other clothing. And never, ever, wear leather to the workplace - I have a leather coat that I wore regularly to a client's shop while I was contracted to him, and the styrene smell took about three months to leave that coat after I finished the job!

[SamSam]

I have looked up Acetone on the internet. Does not look too bad. They have done animal studies and there is no correlation between acetone and cancer, so that is good! There is still the issue of fiberglass resin and dust.



You have to look at it with a jaundiced eye. Or take it with a grain of salt. Or believe that "We're the government, we're here to help you."

How long did the government go along with Tobacco's claims that cigarettes were not too bad? How long were asbestos problems overlooked? How dangerous is your old treated wood deck?

The business of government is business. Acetone and resin are too useful to industry with no economic replacements, dust is expensive to abate.

Protect yourself.

Styrene is bad. MEKP is very bad.

Gasoline is bad. I was taking care of 24 acres of sports fields for 4 years, dosing it with herbicides, fungicides, fertilizers, retarders and accelerators. Even paint. Of all the things I used, and there was no holding back because of possible environmental or even health concerns, gasoline had the worst MSDS sheet.

I am doing assembly, not fiberglassing/gel-coating, so I guess I am not developing the skills that pay $100 an hour. . Maybe I can ask for a transfer to that section.I think someone is BS ing you.

[soba]

I worked in a shop doing big fibreglass infusions and fairing. The infusion process isn't bad, as you do all your layup dry...respirator and coveralls to keep the mat fibres out of your intimate life. Then the infusion goes from closed containers into the bag, so vapors are at a minimum.

Fairing is deadly, though. The mud is nasty stuff ( a two part) and styrene monmers are nasty. I used to sweat real stinky sweat after being around the raw monomer all the time. Acetone is volatile, but some does go through your skin and tends to head for your liver. Scary.
The wake up call for me was the polyurethane paint. I got a good whiff of it past a mask that wasn't totally sealed. That stuff floored me, literally. I got dizzy, my chest closed up, and I fell down.

I quit the next week...and I had my mask duct-taped to my face that whole week.

Get the gear on, at the least. a little vaseline goes a long way to getting silicone masks to seal right (especially over a beard)

[py]

Might not be a bad idea to contact the vic govt worksafe dept. They will at least give you some advice on your rights. Might even send an inspector out to have a look. They can do that without letting the boss know you dobbed them in. They might impose some safe work standards on the place. $20 per hour casual is a crap rate. You are being taken for a ride, with your health placed at risk. Not a good place to be.

[S B]

Look at the situation with both eyes open, nothing is as safe or dangerous as first experienced. A kindergarten teacher, with a fifty mile commute,"has a dangerous job." The cook on a freighter has a" safe job." Circumstance could take either one, but allowing yourself to be killed a little at a time, is one of the more common ways of self destruction, on the planet.

[JimConlin]

My impression is that the North American FRP boat industry is really trying to clean up its act and that observations of other times and places might not fairly describe the current NA scene.
Michael- care to comment?

[Yeadon]

This is actually a pretty depressing thread. For a decent wage, peterAustralia is basically gambling on his health.

Just from reading here, it seems like you like the wage (everybody likes a good wage), but don't have a true love for the work. Maybe I'm wrong, and apologize if I missed that ... but what you've signed up for at the fiberglass boat plant doesn't seem like a fair trade.

[Wild Wassa]

"This is actually a pretty depressing thread."

It is meant to be Mate ... we are a long time dead.

Here in Australia, in our industry, there aren't so many of us that we don't tend to run into each other ... it isn't a pretty look. The numbers that have had to leave this industry are alarming. Find a few old guys Peter, your older colleagues will introduce you, or ask around ... and have a talk to the the old retired pros, who are in their 30's. Every person who I know who has been involved in chemical engineering has had to retire early. That is what we are Peter, we are chemical engineers ... we use the science of chemistry to execute our profession.

Don't just say, "not too bad," go looking at what causes Parkenson's Disease. You might even notice the number of chemical engineers with the shakes. I notice amongst my friends, who have been analytical chemists and even cropdusters. Peter in Australia, do not view one or two web searches as being ... "not too bad."

"Maybe I'm wrong, and apologize if I missed that ..."

I doubt it Yeadon, and there is no need for an apology, when you are dead right Mate. There are hobbiests who foam at the look of any wooden boat and then there are the workers who foam and spit blood because they do.

In this industry excluding the poncies, the designers, who wouldn't even know what dirt or a glass shard under their fingernails actually feels like, like workers do ... workers do the dying by proxy for them, so that the designers can get to feel oh-so-precious and concerned and tag onto the worker's suffering like they actually know what it is all about, or even care ... after reading a few health and safety info sheets.

Peter in Australia, I hope you are actually taking note Digger. I see nothing about what you have writen that says you even give two hoots apart to tell us you now work on boats. It is a fantastic industry, I wish you much joy.

Peter in Australia, if you are fair dinkum Mate, you will do what Py suggests ... otherwise in a year from now, call back here, and let us all hear your dry cough on Youtube.

Mate, don't go to manufacturer's websites to get their H&S data sheet bullshit, that have the toxins that "don't look too bad." Go to the sites of the dying and find out what was their industry ... and join a freak'n union.

Warren.

[seanz]

It would be nice to get a job with a wooden boat builder here in Melbourne but think these jobs are hard to find. All the money, the jobs and the market is with fiberglass boats and I doubt that this will change in a hurry.You also say you need the money, how badly?
If you are eligible for Austudy, go back to school.
Go to RMIT, do CAD (you've already got some skills) or furniture making or if you like working with chemicals a chem eng degree.
You really like boats (how many of your coworkers do?) and surely there are other ways to get into the industry that don't risk your health like fiberglassing does.
If you can't afford to leave, stash cash for 6 months and then go to school. The boats you're building will have cabinets in them (is works cabinet shop onsite?) and being (qualified as well) able to work wood is a good intro to wooden boat builders. There must be companies still doing work in Williamstown on wooden boats, ask them what they're looking for in a new employee and become that person.
Or sail across the Bay to the http://www.woodenboatshop.com.au/
and get down on your knees and beg.
:D

Best of luck.

[SamSam]

.... and styrene monmers are nasty. I used to sweat real stinky sweat after being around the raw monomer all the time.

It always bothered my wife that she could smell the styrene on my breath when trying to sleep. I have an amateur kayak building book from the 70s where it says rabbits kept in the building shed tasted so bad of styrene they couldn't be eaten.

[peterAustralia]

HI all,

Lots of posts in this thread,

If I were paranoid I might suggest that some others were trying to dictate my life. However my rational side says that this is just showing some concern. Am I genuine?... well yes.. you can see me leave for work at 5.30am every morning from 49 Whitehall street, Footscray in Melbourne, my home number is 93328456, I am 37 years old (no I am not worried or concerned about giving my home address or phone number on the internet!).

$20+ an hour is a bad wage? Well I spent 6 years working in laboratories and never got that. I spent 2 years cleaning in hotels and was on low low wages (how low can you go? award at $13.50 an hour!!)

I have an associate diploma in Chemistry and qualifications in I.T. Although I can program well in ASP, the industry has moved on and it is all dot NET these-adays. I am 37 years old, have good health,common sense but no real money and no real assets, thus my interest in getting a job where I can save $300 a week or so.

Getting back to boats, there a few older people in the factory, though not many. What I am trying to get a handle on is whether the chemicals and dust where I work are just annoying or a real health issue.

As to Acetone, animal studies have shown no link between exposure and cancer. As I have a science background I can understand how these studies work. I doubt there is a conspiracy here. When i worked in laboratories I used pyridine, Chloroform and Hexane, which cause sterility, cancer and cancer respectively. Thus my conclusion is that acetone may do bad things to you, but does not cause cancer. What the other chemicals do to my health in the factory I am not sure.

At work I am learning to keep my mask around my neck when not in use, so I do not waste time looking for it when required. Using this 'Matrix' stuff is still an issue. Not sure how to avoid getting it on my hands. Yes there are MSDS's in the factory, I have to admit I have not read them as yet, will do so on Monday.

Some useful tips are the use of barrier creams and Borax soap. The disposable gloves at work are latex not nitrile. I have a replaceable cartridge mask at home, could take it to work it I thought it appropriate.

Thanks for the tips on my career and my life in general

n peter evans

[Michael Beckman]

the chemicals effect some worse than others. Some people have no trouble.. some eventually end up unable to leave home because of the fumes surrounding normal people(laundry detergent, shampoo, etc). Do you want to have a life confined to your house?

[SamSam]

What I am trying to get a handle on is whether the chemicals and dust where I work are just annoying or a real health issue. They're certainly not improving your health. You don't actually say what chemicals you are working with, besides acetone. So.. what are the issues with all the chemicals I am using, are they dangerous, or just irritants. And even if you say polyester resin, I would imagine it's a mass of separate chemicals. As I alluded to with agriculture chemicals, you can't believe industry or even the MSDS sheets. The MSDS sheet for "Roundup" a chemical used worldwide for weed control, will tell you a bunch about the weedkiller chemicals themselves, but government regs don't require them to tell you about the surfactant (a chemical used to assist penetration, it "makes water wetter") in Roundup, which is suspected by many to be worse than the killer chemicals themselves as regards the environment and human health.

You have to think and use common sense. I am on construction jobs where people will use masks when cutting cured concrete or blocks, but won't when dumping cement into the mixer. Cured concrete dust will cause silicosis, but it seems uncured cement dust inhaled and evenly spread on moist lung sacs might give you a cement coated set of lungs which would fail much sooner than cement filled ones.

Fiberglass dust is not just fiberglass fibers. It carries with it the resins and chemicals it's surrounded with. Cured resin is probably less harmful than uncured, but even though you are grinding and drilling a cured boat, I believe once you get to the molecular level there are a lot of molecules that are not cross-linked, or cured. Even cured or not, dust is the only way most resins and chemicals will get into your system, as resins and such are usually not atomised into a mist which floats around to be inhaled, and gloves and clothing stop most of the other.

Acetone itself might be fairly harmless, but it does dilute whatever you're cleaning off you hands and allows it to be more easily absorbed through your skin and into your system.

Don't forget your eyes. Mekp can wrinkle your corneas up in seconds and leave you only able to tell if it's night or day.