Resin sanding... Is it as bad as advertised??

So I'm prepping a resin body right now. I had to sand off some handles, thin the wheel wells, etc. I did all this at my bench with my respirator on. My wife came down (I work in the basement) and wondered what I was doing. I told her there are some carcinogens in the resin when sanded from the body so I was taking precautions.
Needless to say she was NOT happy since we have a one year old (and her!!) upstairs in the house.
Later I was back at it with the Dremel but next to the box fan in the window. Am I being too cautious, or is there a real need for the extra precaution?
What and where do you sand your resin?
Thanks,
Erick --

if there is i been doing it wrong. i dont use any masks or anything. i go bare

Just pick one of the product MSDS listings and they will give you an idea what the safest thing you can do when using them. I just typed in urethane resin msds to find the info.

Here is a page of examples with resin products:

http://www.eagerplastics.com/msds.htm

I would agree breathing the dust is probably not very good for you - but those MSDS listings look like they're for the volatile components of the liquids used to produce the resin (ie, during the casting process). I don't think they necessarily apply to the cured resin itself. Wet sanding should contain most of the particulate, but a basic paper dust mask should take care of it as well.

you bet!

resin is kinda of non bio-degradable substance, i read it somewhere that once it enters your respiratory system through breathing it's there to stay for the rest of your life(in your lungs that is!)

try dissolving some resin dust in the water & you'll know what i meant...

i suggest you take whatever precaution you can find to protect yourself & your love ones from it. we're here to do some hobbying not risking lives just because of it.

i'm so extreme in precautioonary measures that i only deal with resin works in my dusty workplace and NOT in my house, with my 2 lovely kids around!

I 'soak sand' all my resin parts (part being sanded is completely submerged in water while sanding)... even when dremeling if possible... When I can't soak sand, I hold the part in front of a fan facing an open window and have on a decent respirator. I leave the room for about 10 minutes once I've stopped sanding and turn off the fan to let the dust settle...

Now, I may be over cautious, but I'm also a heavy smoker... as Rockinanko states, once the resin dust goes in, it doesn't come out.

So, over all I'd say that the advertisement is an understatement.

Steve

I also wet sand over my sink when possible. For any dremel work, I'll go outside with it, gage the wind accordingly.

Bob

I was...now I just do all my reason work without any protection...the problem is - I do a lot of it, and taking precautions every time is just too time consuming and inconveniente at times.

I was...now I just do all my reason work without any protection...the problem is - I do a lot of it, and taking precautions every time is just too time consuming and inconvenient at times.


If resin doesn't actually hurt you then you will be fine. However, if resin does hurt you then, you are going to have some long lasting inconvenience coming and you will wish you took the time to put on a mask.

Myself, I don't know personally and I have sanded without precaution but sometimes I am bad about taking unnecessary chances.


TW

I have found that I do get a bit of a cough and sore throat if I do a lot of resin sanding. I'm not exactly sickly or anything, and I imagine it affects people differently. Anyway, I can't imagine it's that great but I reckon a simple paper mask and sanding away from other people would probably be ok, just to keep that dust out of your lungs.