There
are often concerns raised about safety relating to the dust from
Thinfire, a trade marked product from Bullseye. These concerns also
apply to the Spectrum product called Papyros. The main constituents
of these are cellulose, aluminium hydroxide, fibre glass and organic
binders. It therefore is mainly a nuisance dust and irritant. Greg Rawles, a certified
industrial hygenist with a scientific and common sense approach, says
that the toxicology of fibre glass is not yet determined. So the
best idea is to wear a P95 respirator while dealing with the dust –
mainly the cleaning phase of dealing with the shelf. He also
recommends keeping the kiln closed during the burn-out phase of the
binders, although others recommend venting to avoid anything settling
on the glass during the burn-out.
Some
people seem to have skin reactions to dust including that from
Thinfire and Papyros and tend to wear gloves. If you are wearing
rubber or latex gloves for extended periods, it may actually promote
a reaction to the gloves rather than a primary reaction to the dusts
of the paper. So checking on alergic reactions to the gloves is
advisable in addition to the dust.
If in fact, you are reacting to
fibre paper dust, consider using kiln wash instead. If this is not
practical or desirable there are several things you should do.
- Use gloves (for those with sensitive skin),
- wear long sleeved high necked shirts and pull the gloves over the ends of the sleeves to prevent dust getting to your skin,
- vacuum the kiln with HEPA filters,
- dampen the powder with water spray before brushing,
- take precautions against taking the dust home by changing in the studio and placing clothing in plastic bags to take to the wash.
No comments:
Post a Comment