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I started building a dutch coaster recently from a kit which is all plastic and styrene. I have no experience of using these materials. Progressing reasonably well but am finding that my fingers are becoming very sore, splitting and losing top layer of skin. Lips are swelling too. I can only guess this is a reaction to the styrene and would like to know if anybody else has this problem and how they get round it apart from stopping the build. Any help will be gratefully received.
Regards, Nerys
When the winds before the rain, soon you may make sail again, but when the rain's before the wind, tops'l sheets and halyards mind
You have to ask yourself. Is it the Styrene or is it the glue? Why don't you try using surgical gloves! Non allergenic gloves might help. Give it a try and see if this helps! If not you might have to stop the build. Until you figure out what your allergic to! Hope this helps....
.... and make sure the working area is well ventilated, an extractor fan helps enormously, as also with spray painting or soldering (esp with the old lead based solders). It's the solvents drying your skin out, removes all the skin oils. Can make your eyes sting as well. 😭 Cheers, Doug
Young at heart - slightly older in other places 😉 Cheers Doug
An old friend of mine in Santa Monica who'd made models for years suddenly found he had a sensitivity to styrene and resins and had to pack it up. He bravely decided to go over to all metal work, but something about that disagreed with him too and he packed up all modelmaking as it was starting to affect his wife too. Heaven knows what it could have been with the metal as it was all brass, so none of that nasty storage oil they put on steels. I think I'd just put up with it as I couldn't stop modelmaking even if I wanted to. I did painting when we lived afloat for lack of space, but I didn't find it satisfying enough.
If he was heating /melting the brass it could be zinc fumes which if inhaled or ingested can give galvanic poisoning which can give flu type symptoms and the need to stay close to the toilet. that's why if your brazing always do it in a well ventilated area .
Certainly not melting and I'm pretty sure it was soft solder only as I know he had no knowledge of silver soldering. I use silver solder (hard soldering) all the time and have done for over 50 years, most of it with cadmium rich (still, I get it from ebay) and I have had no unpleasant reactions. OK, currently I have the shed door open as it's a very small shed, but I never used to in a 7x5. Before that the space was always bigger. Cadmium free modern silver solder is crap as it will not flow as well as Cadmium containing.
I started this post hoping to get advice on allergic reaction to modelling with styrene but it seems to have turned into soldering problems. I'd really like to know if anybody else has had any trouble with styrene and how they coped with it.
Fair winds, Nerys
When the winds before the rain, soon you may make sail again, but when the rain's before the wind, tops'l sheets and halyards mind
Hi Nerys, my son is allergic to all types of plastic glue, so he only works with other materials. I am allergic to rust, not good when you work with iron and steel. I have to use gloves and a mask. It may be advisable to ask your gp for a skin allergy test. Cheers Colin.
Since Styrene itself is an oil, suspected in some countries of being carcinogenic, used in producing various polyxxx plastics, I strongly suspect the the glue is the source of the problem as you can't be coming into contact with styrene oil itself. So I repeat, good ventilation, extractor fan, thin latex surgical gloves and a face mask as one should also use when spraying. Cheers, Doug 😎 PS Sell that kit and buy something friendlier!😉
Where gloves are concerned, use blue nitrile as there are probably more people allergic to latex than styrene!
Don't know about you though, but I can't breathe in any mask worth it salt. I just do it all outside in the almost permanent breeze that blows round my bungalow. I stand in the doorway of the shed and spray out into the great blue yonder. Styrene, fortunately doesn't affect me. When Slater's first popularised Plastikard, old man Slater used to demonstrate the making of things like model house window frames with Micro strip and Slater's own solvent called Mek-Pak. The smell was glorious and just oozed quality modelmaking to me. I always made a bee-line to Slater's stand at any suitable exhibition. These days I use Plastic Weld as it does more plastics than just styrene and it doesn't have that lovely "esterish" smell.
Good point about the gloves Martin!👍 Not being affected (like Granny used to say "No sense, no feeling"!) I hadn't considered that and never 'eard of blue nitrile! Would be interesting to know which glue Nerys is using! Would also recommend that she washes her plastic stock with washing up liquid, to remove any possible residue from the production process, before starting to cut it. Cheers, Doug
Young at heart - slightly older in other places 😉 Cheers Doug
Spoke with the H&S Adviser at the University he said that disposable masks are no good for Styrene fumes you would need a filter type like 3M 6051,he also said if your allergic to handling it best to use Black Nitrile gloves as used by tattooists and to sook the fumes off with a vacuum or extractor.👍
Styrene fumes? You'll only get fumes if you heat it.
My chum works a vac-former to make model car glazing and he thoroughly washes every sheet of PVC before forming it. Stops micro-bubbles forming.
I use blue nitriles when epoxying. I always found latex melted on contact with most of the things I used, like enamel paint, Marineflex, etc. Nitriles stay put.
I ceased work on the kit for a few days for my hands to recover and am now using blue nitrile gloves. I am using Revell Contacta Professional glue. Since resuming work, I have had no problems - so far, so good! I can't see that fumes come into the equation unless the styrene is being heated.
Nerys
When the winds before the rain, soon you may make sail again, but when the rain's before the wind, tops'l sheets and halyards mind
Sorry joined the thread late on ,when brass fumes etc were being mentioned ,black nitrile are very good for folk who are very sensitive to talc and other types if powder used inside some gloves
8th Oct 2018 01:03
