Epoxy Allergy

[Seabass]

Hello All. I have been working on my first build for about a year now and discovered on my first glassing job I have an epoxy allergy when my face swelled up as though I had been in a bar fight the night before. I read on one forum that this condition will completely preclude this hobby for an individual and I simply wanted to provide some info on how I have dealt with it. It has been a journey in figuring out how to completely avoid any drop of epoxy from my skin and have dealt with numerous episodes of discomfort. Just a tiny fingerprint worth of epoxy will cause my forearm to erupt into severe blistered chemical burns that do not heal for 6 weeks. I did not find any useful info on the web so here is what has worked for me.

For laying glass I have found that long sleeves and jeans under a tyvek suit along with forearm protectors and 16” nitrile gloves rubberbanded over the forearm protectors has kept my arms fully dry. Tyvek suits bleed if liquid gets on them, so an extra layer underneath helps to stop the bleeding onto one’s skin. This is particularly helpful on the legs. If i see anything is bleeding through the tyvek the extra layer also gives me time to change my tyvek and let the epoxy in the previous one dry before the next use.

I tried heavy duty reusable nitrile gloves but they did not work for whatever reason. I dont know how epoxy got in but somehow it did every time.

And most importantly, use a full facial respirator and program your mind to avoid touching your face in general even after showering.

For sanding epoxy, i havent had a lot of problems. Long sleeve clothes and nitrile gloves (and obviously respirator) has worked ok.

[Fuzz]

That would take all the fun out of boat building and make me go to poly or just give it up. I hate to hear of this happening to any one but I have heard of it happening to people for many years now.

[OrangeQuest]

Have you tried different brands of epoxy?

[fallguy1000]

Degloving is the worst way to get a touch of it and develop sensitivity.

[Seabass]

Have you tried different brands of epoxy?

Sure did. I started with totalboat and tried West also. I ended up using silvertip ecause I read fromseveral folks the two ratio epoxies are easier on allergies. Turns out it makes no difference for me but I got used to using the silvertip and I have stayed with it.

[cape man]

So sorry to hear this. Out of curiosity, do you have other allergies?

[cvincent]

I have a sensitivity to epoxy but nothing on the level that you describe. Is your work area well ventilated? I built my phantom in a small garage and I felt terrible every time I worked with epoxy for several hours. I am now working in a large metal building which has good ventilation and I don’t have the same symptoms. You have a good plan to minimize skin contact, possibly try adding a couple fans for better air circulation in your work area.