Wow, that looks more like a burn then a reaction. Hope you recover quickly, I recall reading that once you have a reaction you are more likely to suffer worse ones with repeated exposure, so you really want to be careful.
And I remember reading the same thing you have read about it being easier to have additional reactions. I'm hoping with extreme care I can do the significant amount of additional work on Destiny that still needs doing. If it gets to be too much I will be forced to pay someone else to do the epoxy work for me.
Epoxy is a co-polymer of Bisphenol A and Epichlorohydrin.
Look up Wikipedia
EPICHLOROHYDRIN
BISPHENOL A
PHENOL (probably the worst history of all....)
These all seem to be balanced essays on these chemicals by a balanced researcher/scholar. These are dastardly chemicals all perpetuated by papa Dow and the Chemical Giants.
I'm a 'first generation' user of epoxy. Got the stuff from an industry aircraft supply. It was a two-part paste that smelled strongly of toast and ammonia. I played with it bare-hands like it was clay and got red-hands with raw damage around the finger nails.
It smelled bad, should have known.
As you read about the chemicals you realize that sensitivity is passed on generationally. Nearly always this anomaly lies with the practices of the chemical company and government agencies that protects the consumer. BUT I am stupid and probably paying the price for continuous use of epoxy, not fully realizing its toxicity, for the last 30 years - with minimal protection.
If you are very sensitive to the stuff, there is just about nothing that can be done to make it safe -- except being very very careful.
Reaction.
Always felt that the chemical inter-reaction of Part A with Part B was the problem on the skin. But reading about the chemicals that make up the glue has changed my opinion.
Never found, for instance, a barrier cream or spray that I could work with.
But it is certainly worth the effort to protect your arms with a non-greasy coating. Or a Tyvec sleeve coverall.
Working in hot weather when the pores are open and sweating... we are more vulnerable to react with toxic chemicals and solvents.
Protective gloves are problematic. All disposable gloves only give partial protection. Partial may not be good enough! I used latex because they are the thinnest and allow 'feeling' the work. They offer the least protection. I've had them pull apart putting them on. The gloves we get from fiberglass suppliers are seconds imco. Gloves that never made it to surgery. Nitrille are better protectors, maybe because they are thicker, especially with solvents. And vinyl gloves or polyethylene which don't seem to wrinkle in solvents, that is respond to the chemicals and solvents, while we have them on. My therapist agrees that neuropathy in my arms may come from decades of working with epoxy & solvents.
(google) Epoxy - a warning << UK HBBR
ukhbbr.wordpress.com/how-to-do-it/epoxy-a-warning/
from May 21, 2009. So it is a current site - hope you can bring it up.
This seems to be a guy like you C'147 - but more extreme.
Since I've been here on this Forum, you have read my grousing about the stuff.
Most important to use the 'best' epoxy you can find. Not necessarily will you find it at your local marine convenience store.
Just because a well known chainstore carries a product doesn't make it safer or better than a product not on its shelves or in their catalog. Use only 100% solids low odor, low VOC, no solvents epoxy. Do not use any epoxy (incuding coatings) that have solvents in them. Solvents just make the epoxy worse than 100% solids which are epoxy dangerous.
Use only Xylene* to thin epoxy - don't inhale it.
Don't buy adulterated** epoxies. Use only one to one or two to one formulations. Buy only: "guaranteed no blush." (I believe only MAS does this.)
I use Calif local TAP Premium. Has never blushed but it is not guaranteed not to. Interesting that TAP also makes a standard (cheaper) two part epoxy that has a rep for problems I have seen at the yard.
Use isopropyl alcohol for cleanup - don't inhale it. You can get sensitized to methyl alcohol as well. Don't get methyl alcohol on your skin. White vinegar (made from ethanol) and water are often cited as alternative to solvents. See if it works for you.
Solvents and alcohol are 'drivers'. They transport the chemicals, the epoxy, you are wiping off your skin INTO your skin.
Sensitivity could come from that combo rather than an allergic reaction to epoxy chemicals.
Stay away from solvents with '..one' in their name: acetone, ketone. Lacquer thinners, MEK are truly BAD. If these wrinkle your gloves imagine what they do to your lungs.
I have yet to use MAS epoxy products. Been easier to get my drugs from the local plastics shoppe. MAS, I believe, is the only supplier who tells you upfront of the dangers of epoxy. This bit of news comes from the Brit site above here. How well they do that would have to go through my rant and sarcasm - but at the very least it is ethical. Support only ethical manufacturers and suppliers.
imco
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ______ *later edit. Xylene. This is a bad chemical. Don't mean to imply that there is anything safer about this solvent than another. It is a benzene ring solvent which all tend to be lethal and carcinogenic. Limited experience tells me that we can successfully thin epoxies with small amounts without altering the epoxy's chemistry too much. I use thinned epoxy as a sealer for wood. But technically I really don't know. Bet we get a rash from it. Xylene is the odor of gasoline. **cheaper epoxies are often cheapened by extending/diluting with nonylphenol.
The guy in the article you directed me to went to some extreme measures to protect himself and still failed.
I've backed off on the boat projects until this flare up goes away (and thanks to a steriod creme from the doc it is starting to go away). My plan is to cover up MUCH better than I was. The flare up came from sanding the patch on a through hull that I closed up. Being Florida in the summer I was working with bare arms. I won't make that mistake again. I don't believe the fumes are what cause me a problem. I worked down inside the keel where ventilation was minimal and did not have a problem. It was not until I sanded partially cured epoxy and got the dust on my arms that I had any issues.
I'm also building a new boat shop (or I should more correctly say having it built) That I can air condition. This will allow me to work under more cover without suffering heat exhaustion.
Could be you don't have a direct CHEMICAL reaction to the stuff.
Cured or even 'partially' cured chemicals are not known to cause contact dermatitis. (LATER EDIT: BUT cured epoxy and most common consumer plastic products (what is not plastic?) leach toxic chemical components in the form of synthetic hormones that all living beings are having problems with. Read later posts here....)
Incomplete cure is the cause of polyester blistering in underwater hulls. Epoxy being a twopart mix might do the same, but imco is undocumented. Epoxy and vinylesters are not 'waterproof', more water-resistant than polyesters.
Of course the dust is another problem.
And so is glass particles.
Now glass MIGHT cause a skin reaction if you are rubbing against the source -- or if your grinder is spraying grindings onto your arm.
The redness is in the crotch of your arm and agitation might be a contributing factor.
Might indeed be a lowgrade rash.
Hope so
In any case
It doesn't sound like classic allergy reaction to fumes or contact. That's good news.
Absolutely nothing like a real shop. Fantastic!!!
Also I see your Commander has a BOWSPRIT.
That's a real first!
That was a quick way to draw the trailer tongue to make sure it would fit in the space. No bowsprit. I was just trying to get a symbol that would show the size and scale of the boat on the trailer for building planning purposes.
Imco it'll be virtually impossible to avoid uncured epoxies working around a boat.
Maybe you could try to find out if you have an allergy.
Do you have a history of allergies? In your family? In your past?
It may be worth while to go to a dermatologist and get a patch test for uncured epoxy ( Side B, the hardener, is thought to be the culprit, but this is not correct, the chemicals in both sides are toxic.)
As I understand it, they use acetone or petroletum as the carrier in the test.
So if you have a reaction to these two rascals, you'll know you have a reaction to patch testing!
BUT it may be worth a try.
If you can afford it, it might be interesting to find out if you are predisposed to reactions from the usual solvents that end up in a shop.
What's that in the upper left corner, your metal band saw?
And a sliding table saw, wow!
Hope you post pics of your shop - always a treat!
epoxy contact dermatitis
chemicals by a balanced researcher/scholar. These are dastardly chemicals all perpetuated by papa Dow and the Chemical Giants.
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