Super Glues are a serious Hazard! I hope you all know that super
glues ( whatever the brand) are highly toxic. This came up at a
show last weekend and I promised myself to get the word out on
Orchid. I was talking with a stone cutter who has been feeling very
unwell for a long period of time. This is what she described as an
ongoing pattern ( although she didn’t realize the pattern was work
related in it’s cause): After some days in production she would
begin to feel unwell. When she felt really bad, she’d have to stop
working; eventually she’d begin to feel better (days again) go back
to work and the syndrome would begin again some time after she got
back into production. I asked her the symptoms and was relieved to
be able to tell her I believed I knew the cause. She was
experiencing SHORTNESS OF BREATH AND IRREGULAR HEART BEAT. These are
classic symptoms of over exposure to super glue! They are so
predictable they are in the medical data sheet (MDS) that is put out
by the manufacturer. I became aware of this after a very frightening
search for the cause of my husbands increasingly ill health some
years ago. He saw numerous specialists who conducted numerous tests
and all were inconclusive. It was in preparation for an appointment
with an occupational medicine specialist that we compiled a list of
everything we could think of in his studio that we looked into super
glue and “zip kicker” ourselves and the cause was revealed! This is a
very serious risk! Super glues are toxic and cumulative. the vapors
are heavy and do not dissipate easily. If super glue and
complimentary accelaerants are essential to your work you can
protect yourself in various ways: 1. use it out doors 2. Use it with
a fan behind you and an open window in front of you. 3. Use a down
drafting suction system 4. Hold your breath 5. Keep it off of your
hands and skin 6. Try to limit the amount of material and the
length of time you are exposed to it. and be awaRe: HEATING
REACTIVATES and friction causes heat. The good news? If you stop
your exposure to the fumes, your heart rhythm and breathing should
return to normal in a relatively short period of time. That was our
experience. If you don’t start to feel better soon, I would advise
you to take the MDS to a physician and get checked out thoroughly.
Super-glues and their associated fumes aren’t great for you
(watering eyes if too close, etc.), but you couldn’t pay me enough
to use zip-kicker! That stuff HAS to be horribly toxic!!
A much better alternative to zip-kicker is baking soda powder, so
long as you don’t mind a slight thickening of the glue-exposed area
due to the film of powder. Just sprinkle the baking soda over the
already-glued-joined-together pieces along the exposed glueline. It
will effectively cure the cyanoacrylate from the edges of the
exposed glueline. One caveat – baking soda also really hardens the
superglue, so be aware that if you need to subsequently file or sand
the area, it will be much stronger/harder than what you are used to.
I use Zap-A-Gap – it seems to cure faster than the traditional
runny superglues, and I can still use the “baking soda kicker” if I
need to.
Terri - by the beach in San Clemente, where the sun has finally come
out for a lovely day.