Foolishly dry sanding antifoul (Micron Extra)

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iainmillett

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Foolishly today I dry sanded part of the bilge keel of my Hunter 23' for some 10 minutes.

My nose is feeling sore - is this serious?? /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
 
stops you getting barnacles if you put your face under water within 24 hours.

(When all else fails, read the instructions: there might be a warning to check with a doctor. Alternatively if you want to give the National Poisons Unit a call.... You may have to go via the NHS Helpline 0845 46 47)
 
Please buy a 3M mask...... this stuff is designed to kill life after all.....


...not that it makes much of a job of it though. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
You are not alone, I dry sanded my contessa keel till I got constant pins and needles in my fingers and wobbly legs, it took weeks to get back to normal, (some would say I am not normal anyway!)
Any worries, go and see your Dr, I assume you tried rinsing your nose out.
 
80% of most contaminates will be exhaled right away, most of what is left will be moved on by the body and excreted, leaving a tiny amount, which if you only did it for 10 mins may not be much.

Don’t know if that is any comfort?
 
I scraped and sanded my rudder last week and no mask, suffered with a very sore throat and painful down the left side of my face for three days after, think the sore face was due to the effects on my sinuses.
Wont be doing it again without a mask and particle filter.
You could always go to your local swimming baths and have a few dives, which might get some water up your nose and sinuses, but with a risk of catching vuruca's /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
errr, that's the point isn't it ? Any poisons picked up by the body will be transported round by the vascular system.

The components of antifouling will affect the central nervous system; that's one of the ways they affect marine life.

Dunno where you get the figure of 80% "exhaled" from though. I'd imagine that the cilia in the nose trap a hell of a lot, and the mucosal surfaces in the throat and lungs pick up the rest.

Take no risks ; ring NHS, and if they are reluctant, ask them to check with Cardiff, the National Poisons Unit for you.
 
I tried wet sanding, but got too wet, cold and messy. So I rigged up a vacuum cleaner to the sander, wore a close fitting, respirator-type, mask, goggles and overalls. I soon discovered that gloves were another essential.

The manufacturers do try to impress on us the need to be careful. Their web site gives plenty of advice (although some of it is conflicting, presumably due to a typo) and so does the can. They were doing a promotion this year. With each £100 can of Micron Extra you got a free safety pack including overalls, can opener, brush, gloves, mask and goggles. But I didn't go and buy the stuff until I had finished the messy bit.
 
The 80% relates to a training course I once had on Body Monitoring for radiation contamination. Particles are particles so no reason why A/F would be any different to radioactive particles. (with regard to movement out of the body)

And of the 20% left most gets excreted without doing any damage. (via the nose I guess) Hence that wont leave much. It was a long time ago so I can’t remember the proportions of the bits that are left, but I felt it was comforting to know 80% goes right away and so does much of what's left. (Without damaging the cells) I agree none is better.

This is the advice for copper poisoning after a Google of the web.

First-aid measures and management principles
After ingestion, rinse the mouth thoroughly with water
and give water to drink.Give milk or egg white. Obtain medical attention immediately.

Management includes emesis or gastric lavage, correction of
fluid and electrolyte imbalance and shock; treatment of
hepatic and renal damage, methaemoglobinaemia and
intravascular haemolysis; and chelation therapy.

Respiratory effects from inhalation: move the casualty to
fresh air and give oxygen if breathing is difficult.

Local effects from skin exposure or eye contact with copper
salts: remove contaminated clothing; wash skin immediately
with soap and copious amounts of water for at least 15
minutes. Wash eyes with copious amounts of warm water for at
least 15 minutes.
 
It's not got stuff to breath in... I got rather p!ssed off at the weekend when i was A/F my own boat.. the chap next door on his boat decided to sand dry. made a right mess off my A/F and made me cought and splatter for a good long while. Hope he has the same symptoms as you this week /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Ouuu! Hope you are feeling better.

It never ceases to amaze me that people expect products like AF to kill marine growth but are quite happy to breath in the dust from dry sanding.

I'm no expert, but if a paint product contains chemicals to kill things, then we as users should exercise extreme caution when releasing these chemicals into the air.

I'm really sorry to hear you are unwell from your experience, but hope others will learn. I remember warning of this problem on a thread on this forum a couple of years ago, my concern was rubbished by some, I hope you weren't one of them!

If you MUST dry sand, wear a dust and particle mask of the correct type and wear closed eye protection, the last thing you want is copper and biocides in your eyes. Best removal method is wet sanding, using wet or dry paper.
 
Sorry to hear that you have made yourself sore. Hopefully you have heeded your body's warning in time. Any dust is harmful if breathed in. It lodges in the lungs and causes all sorts of problems later on. Asbestos is an extreme example but you should always wear a dust mask when dry sanding anything, even a piece of wood. Our yacht club (Medway YC) has banned dry sanding antifouling for health and safety reasons. People still do it. The only safe way to rub down antifouling is wet and put up with being soaked. I did my J-92 in one afternoon on my own and then threw my clothes away. My case comes up next week!
Seriously never ever sand antifouling dry. If you have watched someone suffering from Mesothelioma you would never do it.
 
[ QUOTE ]
and would you know how to do most of that? Do you know what chelation is?

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey Brenden be reasonable, I think in this case we are talking about the resiratory measures and maybe eyes, which just seem to be get some air and washing.

However I would like youself, look it up on the web maybe here and a few other places to confirm and find I could do nothing about that aspect myself.

web page
 
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