Boat Builder Central - Builder Forums

After using many gallons of different epoxies i have managed to become sensitive to some of them. My fault as in the early days i did not take the precautions i should have. I am pretty sensitive to Marinepoxy. I have never used system three epoxy. Does any have an opinion on weather it is more or less toxic ?
Thanks
Roland

Roland, in most cases, if you have a reaction to one epoxy (MarinEpoxy) you will have a similar reaction to SystemThree, West etc. I must admit that we have one customer who took a years long break from epoxy boat building and has since started back with no reaction. He uses MarinEpoxy both before his reaction and now afterwards!!! Jeff

Really sorry to hear this. Like you, I'm just begging to develop sensitivity as I'm always working bare handed in shorts and a T shirt. Over my time here on the forum you are at least the fourth person to report this. Cracker Larry started having awful skin reactions the year before he past away, and was giving up boat building because of it. Are you having skin or breathing issues? I ask as you may be able to prevent the skin reactions with nitrile gloves and wearing long sleeve shirts and pants, but the breathing issues may require a lot more PPE making working with it just not worth it anymore. I like Jeff don't know if a different brand of structural epoxy will make a difference, as they are all based on pretty much the same general components. Usually the difference in people's reactions is based on the volatility of the epoxy (i.e. thin coatings versus structural epoxies), especially if it is the vapors that one reacts to.

Taking a break may be the best and easiest trial to see if it passes.

How bad is it?

nightcrawler wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:21 pm After using many gallons of different epoxies i have managed to become sensitive to some of them. My fault as in the early days i did not take the precautions i should have. I am pretty sensitive to Marinepoxy. I have never used system three epoxy. Does any have an opinion on weather it is more or less toxic ?
Thanks
Roland

I have some sensitivities after using several hundred gallons of it.

Use only thickster gloves. Never work on anything without gloves.

Wear only long sleeves. It is over 90F here in the build area. Here is me. I don't care if it is 110F. I wear sleeves.

If you get epoxy on you. Use vinegar to remove it. Acetone is very bad because it solves epoxy and allows it to flow into tissues. Vinegar dissolves it less.

Never sand without a mask. Never. I sand a small area no mask and it gets me gagging. Never mix additives like fumed silica without a mask. Now n then I have a drop of epoxy and think I can pull my shirt up over my face and it always fails.

Wear glasses. I have some irritation in my left eye. Just a bit more work to be done.

Good luck.

I replied on another forum that I had been here for about 20 years and only 3 people had serious reactions. You're number 4. Sorry to hear it - sort of congratulations in a bad way.

I think just about every one of them was somewhat lax in their taking care of themselves. Working out gloves is crazy.

All of my work is done indoors with no ventilation. I envy the guys who are able to glass outdoors but it is what it is. I always wear gloves and long sleeves. I think having a sander with a good vac system helps a lot. So far I have had no problems but who knows what the future will bring. I am pretty sure I read some place where the 1-1 and 2-1 epoxies are less likely to cause problems than the 5-1 are. I have no idea if this is true or not.

My sensitivity is certain, but the extent unknown. I wonder if the OP understands where his is at...these sensitivities build and not linearly I'm told.

I seem to cough and gag if airbornes.

My problem was degloving. It seemed innocent, at first.

It turns out, for me, I am very left handed. My right hand is not coordinated. And so, to deglove, I always got in a habit of taking my right glove off first with my better, but still gloved, left hand. And often, this would impart a wee bit of epoxy on my right wrist. Always same place. Somewhere into the build, I said, hmmm, hope I don't have a problem from this regular skin contact which happens several times a week.

Sure enough, I did develop a problem, right where I worried about it. Mine is a (thus far)painless, poison ivy like skin blister/lesion.

It seems foolish or silly, but removing slimy gloves is not so simple. Whoever heard of a degloving device? I could have used one.

I had a glove failure last week and no vinegar in the house, so acetone cleaned. Yuk. Bad.

I remember reading somewhere that even vinegar can cause issues with epoxy entering the bloodstream. I wash mine off with laundry powder, if I ever get it on my skin. Teaspoon of powder and just a little water to make a paste. Scrub and rinse. Then regular soap and water. I may use vinegar after that.

I also learned to use quality gloves, and sometimes two pairs. That way I can remove an outer pair without getting it on my skin. Working clean helps also, but I never managed that.

I have asthma and have an over active immune system but no reactions yet.

I built my boat in shorts and short sleeve shirts. Always wore gloves when handling epoxy and a quality mask and dust collection system when sanding. I don't have any allergy.
An observation! I used West System epoxy for all of my build. Their epoxy itself seems relatively benign and odourless to me, as does their 'slow' hardener - which I mostly used. I did not wear a solvent mask with that. However, West System's other hardeners are quite volatile and I always used a solvent mask when working with them.
I tried to avoid cleaning up any uncured epoxy and used disposable containers, rollers etc. If I have to clean up I used vinegar.

I’m either lucky or bullet proof. I’m definitely not smart.

My use of gloves is only to avoid getting my hands sticky. Shorts and T shirts. Typically barefoot. No respirator/mask/eye protection when sanding (or other times). I do build outside under a tarp. Clean up for me is acetone and alcohol.

While I’ve only built a V12 I’ve done many small projects. I’ve never had a reaction. I don’t recommend my approach to safety, but not everyone is sensitive to epoxy.

Thanks Guys
my eyelids swell up and itch. I also get a wicked rash behind my ears. I am now wearing a full face respirator that helps but still have the eye problem. I'm too far into the pg 25 to quit now. Jig ,molds stringers and transom built and plywood purchased laid out and cut and tabed for mounting, Worried about the massive amounts of epoxy to come.
Roland

nightcrawler wrote: ↑Tue Jun 15, 2021 12:53 pm Thanks Guys
my eyelids swell up and itch. I also get a wicked rash behind my ears. I am now wearing a full face respirator that helps but still have the eye problem. I'm too far into the pg 25 to quit now. Jig ,molds stringers and transom built and plywood purchased laid out and cut and tabed for mounting, Worried about the massive amounts of epoxy to come.
Roland

You need to consider changing the air in the work environment. Air changes would help you a bit. If the concentration is lower outside the mask; it'd be lower still in the respirator. How to do it is up to you. An open garage door, fans, a real air exchanger, a wall blower. Anything that can change air..

I have been lucky so far and most of the epoxy-work is done. Most of the time I wear longsleeve, but when it gets too hot only t-shirt. I use gloves, but I still manage to get epoxy on my hands. I use soap with woodpowder to get rid of it. It's not perfect, but it scrups most of it.

I had a serious reaction painting the hull. Although I used a mask my nose started bleeding. Luckily, the work was finished by then.

I hope your reaction gets better.

I leaned how to remove gloves doing radiation/contamination work and we had a specific technique because obvious getting radiological contamination on your skin is bad even a drop. This video is similar to how i do it and I never get it on my hands or body. also, they make longer nitrile gloves that can protect your wrists. https://youtu.be/xTYioOo__6U

from what the OP is saying. it sounds like air quality is the real problem. I’d like to hear more about shop set up, geographic location, etc.

Is the respirator forced air? There are systems that supply forced air from outside the shop. Cumbersome and pricey I bet, but probably safest?

Dougster

Thanks guys
i have since started using a forced air respirator. Also running 2 box fans pushing air out of the shop. I also am using a product called exopoxy which seems to be quite a bit less toxic. That being said my reaction is much less than it was.
I'm 99 % ready to flip but won't be back in Vt to start back on it till late april. I'll see what happens then
Happy Building
Roland

Good to hear.