Josh Dowling and the dangers of epoxy

[surfcowboy]

Some good history and a cautionary tale here.

Josh helped bring epoxy construction to the fore and is now paying a health price. Keep those masks on and suit up when sanding boys. But a great story and I wish him well in the next phase of life.

http://www.swellnet.com/news/talking-heads/2017/06/30/flying-too-close-sun-ascent

Make sure and click thru to part 2 as well.

[TallDude]

Thanks for that Cowboy.
 I haven't noticed any issues with epoxy. There are a number of hardwoods and a few softwoods that I get respiratory irritations with. Ipe, African Mahoganies, Red Mangaris and Redwood have fibers that really suck for me to work with. Even with my whole shop air cleaner and good dust masks it'll get to me after the first day. Being a builder I've been around a lot of bad shit. The worst is lacquer. It's killed a number of painter friends over the years. It's probably the leading cause of alcoholism among painters. The Ether in Lacquer absorbs into their skin, so they will feel drunk, want to drink, or worse. I've seen a guy go crazy after spraying lacquer for hours. He threw his spray rig off the second floor, then threatened the electrician with a hammer after he accidentally switched off the circuit that his sprayer was plugged into. We tried to calm him down, but he jumped into his van and crashed it into a car across the street. After getting some clean air, he started to mellow out. By the time the police got there, he was apologetic. It's like he was crazy drunk one moment, then almost totally sober the next. He actually realized he had had a reaction to the Lacquer. Tough line of work. Building anything is usually crappy work unless you enjoy it          

[Dwight (DW)]

Be sure to read the comments at the end. Burt makes a case for people with red hair being more likely to have the issue.

[surfcowboy]

Thx guys. Dwight, you were the first guy to hip me to a mask with epoxy and I thank you.

Also I took Greg L.'s advice about no acetone to heart.

I'm not around it much but why cause problems. Besides, if I'm going to retire and build like some of the lucky guys here might wanna stay unaffected.

As to the red head thing. I have a friend with very fair skin who is super affected by skin allergies. I guess I never put it together.

[PonoBill]

Fascinating article, and a clear explanation of why Sunovas are such interesting boards--and why the proponents are so enthusiastic. I'm going to have to get one--LiftSup or no. I'd love to meet this guy--I greatly respect innovators that take deep dives.

Melanin in the skin is both a blessing and a curse. Redheaded and light blond people tend to have very little. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the Melanin serves as a barrier to more than just UV. Melanin is an oxidized and polymerized amino acid--complex stuff. The plaques of Melanin overlap, producing a continuous barrier--otherwise, it wouldn't work to block UV. The very short wavelength of UV would penetrate any gap.

[magentawave]

Thanks for that Cowboy.
The worst is lacquer. It's killed a number of painter friends over the years. It's probably the leading cause of alcoholism among painters.         

I spent a lot of years in the construction business and always wondered why it was so common that painters (who regularly shot lacquer) were alcoholics.