Respirator and Alwgrip

[DWT]

Having spent the last few weeks painting the free board and deck of my 1969 30' Morgan with Alwgrip, I still see another week to finish the cockpit and top of the cabin and Hey, the weather might just hold out for me!

My concern is the respirator filters that I am using, and is it the right one:

Aearo AOSafety
R51A Cemical Cartridge

All I have been able to read about the cartridge is that it is good for varnish, paints and etc. but, this paint: Alwgrip, is some nasty stuff and the fumes off of it are really something to worry about. So before my body grows another arm or leg or my nose falls off can someone help me on this?

What would you used?
Is someone near a boat yard to ask them?

David
30' Morgan 69
CarolAnn

[David M]

I have used organic respirators ("organic" not meaning soy beans grown by old hippies in Northern California but instead chemicals consisting of carbon chains) for exactly that...Awlgrip. It seems to work fine meaning I do not smell any fumes or get dizzy or high or nauseous off the fumes. Awlgrip is a Linear Polyurethane (LPU) which of course is a type of paint, albeit, particularly nasty paint.

An organic respirator is certainly better than nothing when working with Awlgrip. Ideally you want a positive pressure mask...but who can afford that other than the boat yard for their painter.

[Robertcateran]

Get a battery powered hookah, or as I did once. I baught some clean black poly hose andgave it slight positive pressure with a car airconditioning fan into a funnel and an old respirator. I have also simply put a hose on my mouth and breathed out to the side, using no excess pressure, when painting inside a small tri . Not as good as the proper ones , but they did the job
Robert

[Alan Wheeler]

It depends on how you are painting. The standard respirator you are using is fine for the solvent fumes. So laying the paint on by brush or roller means you will be OK. But not if you are spray painting. I still come across Professional guy's that use the standard respirator for spray painting, but I think they are mad and tell them so. You need a very good air breathing system when spraying anything with Isocyanate in it. The standard respirator won't protect you. And the air system needs to be protected too. No point in breathing air that is picking up the very thing you are trying to protect yourself from.

[DWT]

You need a very good air breathing system when spraying anything with Isocyanate in it.


Alan,

As to your quote above, does Alwgrip have Isocyanates in it?

Mostly all of the painting I have done up to now is Roll and Tip, outdoors. Had no problems with the fumes doing the free board but, the decks, bent over the newly painted area....WOW, it was intense! And I still have the top of the cabin and cockpit to do.

The end product is great, great paint, hard as nails when cured and a beutiful shine... I just hope I have not just shorten my life by 10 years!

David

[GordMay]

The great majority of polyurethane coatings contain polyisocyanates.
Awlcraft 2000 is an acrylic resin cross-linked with an isocyanate resin (acrylic urethane).

The liquid paint, which comes out of a spray gun, is in a fine aerosol mist. If you inhale this aerosol, the liquid isocyanate is absorbed into your lungs. Isocyanate is a respiratory sensitiser, so inhalation can affect breathing, with potentially fatal results.

[Alan Wheeler]

As to your quote above, does Alwgrip have Isocyanates in it?

The great majority of polyurethane coatings contain polyisocyanates.

All urethanes are cyanate based. There are many different types of cyanate's and they are hugely used in many industries, even some you wouldn't think of. These nasties are highly destructive of living tissue and most especially in Mucous membrane area's, so as Gord posted above, respiratory failures are a huge concern. It is also possible that the stuff is cancer causing. Lab tests has shown that Rats exposed to the stuff get cancer in Liver, bowls and other serious organs. There has been no Human evidence so far to support this, but the stuff creates such serious damage to tissue, that it most likely does cause cancers in Humans.
Certain solvents like Toluene are also made with cyanate. So enhailing the solvents is not so good. By the way, Cyanide (of which there are many types) are also part of the Cyanate family.
One of the biggy's with protection is that cyanate can also be absorbed through the skin. So when spraying, the body needs to be well protected. The respirator is as much about covering the face as it is about protecting the lungs. So a full face mask is recommended. The positive pressure part is about protecting the wearer from particle slipping in under the mask or via a vlave that may not have fully closed etc.

[fastcat435]

Put on a spraying suit with mask and compressed air if you like a healthy life anything else is no good, If I catch a worker that is spraying without one they are out of my factory.
It is poisonous so why would you risk it ?
Greetings
Gideon

[bob kingsland]

I used a positive pressure respirator with it's own little compressor, which I kept outside the shed in clean air. I also used a 2 gallon pressure pot, which meant way too many hoses to keep track of and drag all around the scaffolding alone, but since I only had one positive pressure respirator, I couldn't very well ask any one else to help and breathe that stuff. It really is nasty, and I wouldn't spray awlgrip with out one.
Years ago a professional boat painter in the shop next to mine sprayed with just a gauze mask, and later a 2 cartridge respirator, and after 8 years his health was ruined... he lost everything, at age 40, health, family, and business, and he did a beautiful painting job but ignored the health issues. Whenever he was spraying I just locked the doors and got out of there.
In big cities, you can rent one for the job.
Don't spray awlgrip without one... rolling and tipping is another story.
Best, Bob S/V Restless