Originally Posted by
TimothyH
I worked with methlyene chloride (dichloromethane) extensively in the circuit board printing industry.
Not trying to contradict you Squid and I don't know the concentration we used but guys cleaned screen printing ink with it all day long, with and without rubber gloves. They got it all over their hands and skin, had it in pump canisters and even atomized it in spray bottles spraying it everywhere. It felt like alcohol, evaporated quickly. Has a sweet smell.
Again, I've no idea of the concentration.
It is seriously nasty stuff though. No doubt about that. I shudder to think of the consequences of long term exposure. Some of the old timers washed their hands with the stuff at the end of every shift for decades and poured it down the drain.
I was the weird guy who wore safety goggles and rubber gloves. They accused me of paranoia, trying to make them look like fools...
The concentration was no doubt low. I chatted with a guy on line who was stripping PC with the strong stuff and didn't wear gloves. INSTANT and progressive skin loss. Raced to the ER. The doctors had difficulty stopping it's advancement. Needed plastic surgery to fill the holes. Permanent nerve damage.
From OSHA's site.
BRIEF INCIDENT DESCRIPTION
A temporary worker died while removing the coating from a bathtub
in a residential building. The worker was alone in a small bathroom
where he poured paint remover containing 85-90% methylene
chloride into the bathtub and began scraping. The only ventilation
was a partially open window. Two hours later, the apartment
resident found the worker unconscious and slumped over the
bathtub. The resident pulled the worker away from the bathtub
and called an ambulance. The worker was taken to the hospital,
where attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful. The coroner
determined that asphyxiation, combined with acute methylene
chloride toxicity, caused the worker’s death.
Normal masks with filters are useless. I read a thing where a Lab tested the highest quality filter for it's ability to block the carcinogens. It failed in something like 20 minutes because the fumes MELTED the filter.
You have to wear SCUBA gear if you use it indoors.