Thread: Face Mask!

From all reports I have seen the Sundstrom mask, fitted with gas, particle and pre filters is recommended for general use. There definitly not the cheapest though. BUT The best form of protection is an airfed helmet.

It really depends and what you spray, not by volume.

If your spraying any 2-pac products I think by lesgislation you are required to wear an airfed type and 2-pac can only be sprayed in an approved spraybooth.

In the end your health is worth a thousand times more than the cost of any saftey equiptment. So get the best you can.

I saw a report years ago stateing the ways paint chemicals/fumes etc are absorbed into the body and how we should protect ourselfs.
From memory the body absorbs most by breathing them in. Then came absorbing through the eyes. Then came through the skin. I can't remember the whole thing but thats the jist of it. I had never thought of anything getting absorbed through the eyes until I read that report...

Makes you think eh!

HTH

Cheers

Shane Watson...........

Combine Love & Skill & You Can Expect A Masterpiece!

Hi John
I've been using an airfed helmet for several years, it's the way to go for sure. During summer it's so much more comfortable than a mask too, unless your workshops air conditioned & not a tin shed / sauna such as mine !

Thanks Shane,Marty,for that insight which is helps me out greatly as I have a Racal air-fed helmet that I use when woodturning.I'll check with Racal first to see if there are varying types of filters required for different applications.
Cheers

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Johnno

John,

The racal system is really no different than a normal face mask when it comes to filtering the air.

The Airfed masks we speak of are infact fed by a source of air, somewhat similar to scuba system. Most are fed from a compressor running the air through expensive filters to take out all the nasty's to make it breathable.

In fact Sundstrom have an attachment that fits there facemask to convert it to an airfed, but you still need the air source that has been filtered...

Hope that clarifies things a little more...

Cheers

Shane Watson

When I mentioned the Racal system i was not referring to the filters, rather the system used. That is it draws air through filters and you breath the filtered air. Sundstrom mask etc all work the same, except they are operated on you drawing a breath whereas the racal etc are mechanical....

Just to clear my last post up.. I re-read it and it didn't quite make sense....

anyway

Cheers

Shane............

Damn, I'm starting to confuse myself!!

Starting to confuse yourself, maybe your filter is not working and it IS the fumes. A cheap source of glue sniffing!!!

I've got your drift now Shane,and thanks for enlightening me.For a moment there I thought I was on a winner.
Cheers

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Johnno

Shane, just revisiting this post and thought to pose the question that wouldn't minimal protection suffice in as much as a Sundstrom with appropriate filter if the spraying was to be done in an open area such as a covered breezeway next to my workshop.

I don't ever envisage having a fully set up spray booth as much as I would like to area constraint dosen't allow for it along with shire restrictions.

Cheers

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Johnno

Of Course! These masks are great, ya just have to make sure you replace the filters regularly otherwise theres no point in having a mask on . I refered to the airfed masks purely for reference. They are the best available, but not always the easiest to setup and can be very expensive..

But yeah, a sundstrom will do great, especially if your going to be spraying in a well ventalated area. Hell I know people who use no mask! Silly people But I defintily wouldn't advise that, no matter what your spraying..

HTH




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Shane Watson..

Combine Love & Skill & You Can Expect A Masterpiece!

Actually another thing I might touch on here, is the fact that there is a lot of people using dust masks to protect themselfs when spraying.. I see this regularly on the home improvement shows on TV. This offers little, if no protection. After all the more dangerous part of paint is the gas fumes, which is why you need special filters to filter them out of the air.
Anyway, it just gets to me when I see these shows using these masks for things they weren't intended....Dosn't put out a good image for people to follow.

Cheers

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Shane Watson..

Combine Love & Skill & You Can Expect A Masterpiece!

Good questions and great replies.
To touch apon and hopefully add a little more. I have, when using a new product, requested a M.S.D.S from the company involved. ( Thats a Material safety data sheet for us melons ). Now, by law resellers must have these available although, if ya forget to ask for one they generally won't give you one. Once when i was using a Wattyl 2-pac, i thought i should peruse the document just mentioned and, low and behold i discovered the stuff was particularly nasty on the old bronchials, and nervous system, oh' yeah and the brain and......

Hi. I do all spraying outside and use a normal twin filter dust mask which I fit with organic vapour filters (containing charcoal)and eye protection. Its not perfect but I'm happy, I don't really do that much spraying. The charcoal filters need to be kept in a sealed bag when not in use as they work by absorbing chemicals, whether you want them to or not. It's surprising how well they work. I had an article about "painters syndrome", it talked about the effects, brain damage, organ damage, accumulating over time. Classic ovbious symptoms are quick temper and poor short term memory. I'll see if I can find it and post it or a summary here. Work safe.
See ya. Rod

The Ole' MSDS ....

Mmmm.. Just thought i would add to Roger's post...

For those of us that operate a business, it is important that you have on hand and in a place known to staff that they can access at there will, all relavant MSDS for the products that you use.

I found this out the hard way, thanks to a visit from our local friendly ( or not ) Workplace Health & Saftey Officer.... Lucky all I got was an infringment notice and 30 days to comply with no fines...

Stupid thing was, when I approached my suppliers to get the relavant MSDS, they had to get them through from there distributors! How goods that!

Anyway, Roger's right do yourself a favor and next time you buy anything that can be harmful, get the MSDS and have a good read..

Cheers



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Shane Watson..

Combine Love & Skill & You Can Expect A Masterpiece!

Thanks guy's,that clears up a couple o'thoughts I had.
Cheers

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Johnno