Looking to reduce your life expectancy...

[DMiller]

When painted years ago, wore a ball cap backward a pair of goggles over glasses and Petroleum jelly on any uncovered skin. Masks, who needs masks. Shot Imron with dust masks where was determined either a filter cartridge respirator for good ventilation or outside air hood for close confines was minimum. Employers did not care the rules, just get it done and worry of litigation later if ever.

Body men were short lived where most did not make 66.

 

[John C.]

I have to agree of the longevity of painters working automotive paints. Lots of lung problems going with that long slow death. I equated it to black lung found in coal miners.

Fire retardant coveralls weren't a thing when I was welding. All the steady welders had a can of spray starch sitting on their tool boxes and would coat the sleeves and fronts of the coveralls before getting into weird positions and cramped spaces. Dingle balls would just roll off.

 

[kshansen]

Shot Imron with dust masks where was determined either a filter cartridge respirator for good ventilation or outside air hood for close confines was minimum. Employers did not care the rules, just get it done and worry of litigation later if ever.

We had a younger guy who did 95% of the painting at the shop and I know he did some with Imron. Also know one time while cleaning the gun up after painting he made the mistake of pulling the trigger while wiping the spray tip off with his other hand. He had a nasty sore on that hand for several days. It was not too long after that he got sick and was diagnosed with leukemia and only lasted a few months longer.

Not sure if anyone else made the connection but I know I sure thought about it many times! As I recall he left a wife and maybe half a dozen young kids.

 

[DMiller]

Epoxy base paints with self etching capability, nasty stuff. Sad to hear lose one so young.

 

[JD955SC]

I read an authoritative article a few years back where the doc stated that mechanics live 5 years less than the average, simply because they paddle in used engine oil daily with mostly bare hands, and used engine oil contains more carcinogens from the by-products of combustion, than anything else around.

and yet so many think it’s macho not to wear gloves and they wash their hands in the parts washer or with brake clean.

 

[OzDozer]

The iso-cyanates in the 2-pack paints is the deadly stuff. Always made sure I had the air-wash hood and the proper filter cartridges when doing 2-pack. We like to think we're invulnerable, but the figures show otherwise.
Not many people understand your skin is your bodys largest organ, and carries out an amazing range of protections that stop us from getting toxins and poisons in our system.
Even the pH of your skin plays an important part in killing a lot of bacteria, viruses and other toxins that would ordinarily kill us if they got through.
But modern industrial manufactured chemicals aren't found in Nature, and they come with a host of dangers.
A spray-painter friend who always used minimal protection has just had a kidney removed because of a large tumour. I would lay $50 the source of the tumour was in the fumes he breathed in over the years, or the paints and thinners and solvents he splashed on himself regularly.

 

[Truck Shop]

and yet so many think it’s macho not to wear gloves and they wash their hands in the parts washer or with brake clean.

I have been wearing black nitrile gloves since those arrived on the scene. No reason not to.

 

[Truck Shop]

Even the pH of your skin plays an important part in killing a lot of bacteria, viruses and other toxins that would ordinarily kill us if they got through.

We have driver that has no worries-he's one 265 lb bacteria all by himself.

 

[John C.]

I never used to use gloves, dust masks, hearing protection, safety glasses or leathers when welding. I have used most all of it for the last twenty years or so. Can't get on a construction site around here without using all of it. I just take out my hearing aids now for hearing protection. I have used steel toed boots as long as I've worked. I have four broken toes on my left foot that healed up nice. I still feel the pain when I get out of bed in the mornings.

 

[Birken Vogt]

I have been wearing black nitrile gloves since those arrived on the scene. No reason not to.

I used to use latex when I could find them, but they seem to have been banned out of existence. Modern nitrile are more stretchy though than they used to be so it's not so bad.

 

[Tugger2]

I remember the days when the sun would be shining in thru the shop door. Guys running 3/32 gasless wire ,grinding and cutting . The grit floating in the sunlight was incredible. Now i keep a bunch of old furnace fans around they work great to move the air. I ran some 3/32 NR 311 a while back and wore my respirator. Always wore gloves when welding and the round bug eye goggles when burning.

 

[Welder Dave]

The smoke from self-shielded flux-core is really thick. A Lincoln rep. up here tried to say the white floaties in the smoke were like milk and wouldn't do you any harm. Yeah right!

 

[chidog]

I have stories of shops I've worked in and almost hired in. I declined to work at a few places that I would have liked to work at because of either the constant parts degreaser fumes similar to the old carburetor cleaner smell, in the whole shop, and others that had very strong ketone fumes, they were aircraft related shops that had to clean parts with ketone, I think it was not allowed for them to have a vent system to pipe it out of the building but okay to poison the employees with the fumes. Then there was a particular machine tool cutting coolant that was a paint remover, and that was said by an industrial health specialist that was brought in for training us.

 

[DMiller]

MEK, Methyl Ethyl Ketone was a prominent parts cleaner back in the day. Can transition thru skin, some glove materials, and in air into lungs. We used that to degrease and remove sludge on engines and transmissions in some shop work.

 

[Pantano]

Pork is the hidden killer. The Jews, the Muzzies, and the Bible are right. It'll give you MS, liver cancer, massive weight gain, and it carries a host of diseases. It's the Wurst of foods.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-pork-bad#TOC_TITLE_HDR_3

But bacon sure is goood!