Ron,
As a chemist, I have observed that different people have different
tolerances to organic solvents. Some people really have a tough time with
solvent vapors. After prolonged exposure, some people can even have an
adverse reaction when subsequently exposed to normally acceptable amounts.
I am not one of these people, but if you have reasonable ventilation I
suspect this is the case with you. You might want to have your liver
function checked by a doctor as the liver is the organ that handles getting
rid of vapors inhaled into your body. Its not worth ruining your health over.
Myself, I despise cleaning parts and usually take batches of parts to a
machine shop to be hot tanked. Probably cheaper than buying the solvents
and they come back so nice and clean with all paint and grease removed.
Les
At 02:12 PM 6/14/98 -0000, you wrote:
>Ron Soave wrote:
>> We have tried many solvents (kerosene, mineral spirits, etc.) and have
>> found all of them to be really tough on the sinuses. Right now, we're
>> using "Odorless Mineral Spirits, which means what you can't smell is
>> hurting you a whole lot (so far each night of parts cleaning has been
>> followed by psychedelic dreams filled with Jerry Garcia music and Goldy
>> Hawn in body paint, but I'm pretty sure the better the dream, the less
>> brain cells have survived). Does anyone have any recommendations?
>
>I've found that none of the really effective solvents are gentle on the
>sinuses. I use lacquer thinner which contains MEK. Very nasty stuff.
>If I had a sealed work environment like that, I would either install a
>fume hood (expensive as it would vent your conditioned air outside) or
>atleast a forced air respirator. If neither of these is permissible,
>look for a facemask approved for use with organic solvents. The
>cartridges need replaced, but it should do the trick. Be careful,
>though, because the fumes linger for some time. And if you can smell or
>taste what you're working with, the mask is not working.
>
>Thanks for the tip on tapping the oil galleries.
>--
><mml@pobox.com> Matt Liggett
> '60 Mini, '70 Midget, '89 SAAB 900t SPG
>
>
|