Date: Sun, 19 Jul 1998 21:36:57 +0200
From: Stefano Moretti <S.Moretti@agora.stm.it>
To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
Subject: Re: [baidarka] Gunwale height
Wolfgang Brinck wrote:
>
> A few years back, I inquired about the address of the author who wrote a
> book on building plywood skiffs. The editor I talked to said that the
> guy wasn't building boats any more because he'd become sensitized to the
> epoxy. So toxicity is definitely an issue.
It is , but the few people I know that got sensitized on epoxy were the
most sloppy workers I have ever seen. They performed sanding and
epoxying fiberglass boat bottoms without any precaution whatsoever,
inhaling old antifouling, glass fiber dust and the like, including epoxy
fumes.
I use gloves, a tyvek suit, a carbon double respirator and lots of
ventilation, and I am no professional.
>
> Apparently people on this list have dealt with the nasty chemicals and
> not poisoned themselves, at least not fatally, but as you point out, the
> effects are cumulative.
Not all chemicals have durable or cumulative effects. After all our body
is still quite efficient in removing toxiines from our body otherwise we
would be all dead by now.
>
> Back when I was in school, taking chemistry courses, somebody told me
> that the life expectancy of organic chemists - people who work with a
> lot of solvents - is 5 years less than that of other chemists.
They become dead bored ...
>
> It's kind of like being a bomber pilot. You can fly a number of missions
> and come back alive, but in the long run, the odds are against you.
Might well be, but working with epoxy, which I do not necessarily
advocate, isn't quite as bad as being shot at with heavy machine guns or
cannons while airborne.
Be as it may, I'd rather stick with epoxy (grin) than go to war.
What about you folks ??
cheers, Stefano