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Chances are all of us have some level of exposure to formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is inexpensive to produce and has a wide range of uses from building materials such as paint or the glue used to bind plywood, particle board and paneling to the Brazilian Blowout, a hair-straitening product found to contain startlingly high concentrations of this dangerous compound. For those who work in industries where formaldehyde is used regularly the dangers are quite serious. Even light contact wit …

The US wine making industry has grown tremendously over the past 20 years. Professionals and hobbyists alike ferment great quantities of pressed grapes to produce the ancient ambrosia. However, not all parts of the wine making process bring joy. There is a serious side to viticulture where cleaning equipment, tanks, vats and other confined spaces may hide potentially lethal dangers for those who press the noble grape. Confined spaces within the wine industry can relate to any areas, ful …

"Why don't employers give their workers the best respiratory protection?" This is a question that we run into all the time. It basically comes down to two issues: fit testing and cost. Fit Testing Many employers believe that if they are not offering an approved mask to their workers, they don’t need to worry about fit testing. Unfortunately, this is a misconception. Since the only way to know for sure that a mask is doing its job is through fit testing, OSHA makes it a mandatory part …

In this post we will look at a customer who was working with bleach and mold. This customer will need a respirator mask and filters to protect against both. We will look at what combinations do that: I am looking for a respirator and respirator cartridges to protect me while I apply a bleach solution to my entire attic to kill mold. What would be the correct combination of mask and filters for that application? This poses an interesting question. In looking at a mask and filter …

The variety of jobs and tasks our customers set out to do continually amazes me. Here is a query from a recent customer about his task: In an upcoming job I will be melting lead and spraying acrylic and lacquer based paints. What mask and filters do you recommend to protect me from the fumes associated with these tasks? How does sizing on the masks work? For the lead fumes I suggest using a P100 (HEPA) filter such as the 3M 2091 Particulate Filter or the 3M 7093 P100 HEPA filte …

We recently had a customer who worked with a wide variety of materials and needed a mask and filters to cover everything. Let’s take a look: I am working around many materials that I would like protection from. I am cutting hardened epoxy, fiberglass, wood, and plastic. I also do welding from time to time. I am also exposed to epoxies in the liquid state. Which mask and replaceable filters should I be using to protect me from these exposures? How long do the filters last? What size mask …

One question I am constantly getting is which filter and mask to use in a particular application. The answer to this depends highly on what the context is, but this specific question has a lot of common things you might want to protect yourself against with a mask and filters: I’m working in a building doing demo work. I am knocking down block walls, working with fiberglass and there is asbestos present as well. I have noticed my eyes getting itchy from the fiberglass. What respirator a …

One of our most persistent lines of inquiry has to do with Asbestos in the home. As an avid Do-It-Yourselfer, this has been a subject of interest to me for years. Since I had a few questions along the same line of inquiry last week, I wrote this 'general' response. You can probably figure out what the questions were. For our homeowner DIY customers, we see Asbestos in 3 main areas; furnace duct work, popcorn ceilings and linoleum type (maybe not actual linoleum) flooring. The duct work …