methylene chloride is now banned in paint strippers but xylene is still allowed?
I refurbished a wood boat when I was a teenager - My dad provided me with gallons of paint stripper and like a dutiful son I went to ton - breathing in the fumes for hours - maybe a week's worth of it? I don't remember but it was pink.
.I thought I recognized that sweet cool smell often associated with methylene chloride paint & varnish removers.
Wow I wonder if that was the stuff I was using!
At least 88 people have died from acute exposure to methylene chloride since 1980, most of them who were refinishing bathtubs or stripping paint, the agency said. The fatalities included trained workers who were equipped with personal protection equipment.
Luckily I was working outside.
Xylene has very little effect as a paint stripper for modern day automotive paints. If it`s in a paint stripper it is there to keep the material wet longer so that the paint can be removed. Common stripping solvents are Methylene Chloride (MEC) or N Methyl Pyrolimine (NMP). The idea for a stripper is to get the paint to lift and then be able to wipe it away before it dries and adheres itself back on the surface. The active ingredients I mentioned above would dry to fast if it didn`t have slower evaporating solvents like Xylene in it. Xylene is a mildly aggressive solvent and shouldn`t cause any lifting with a properly painted modern automobile.
Wow that's exactly what I was doing - the paint just LIFTED OFF and I scrapped it off - and there was that sweet sickly cool smell to the stripper.
by cool they must mean burning? Strange.
.exposures below the odor threshold have even resulted in death due to methylene chloride being metabolized into carbon monoxide when entering the bloodstream via inhalation or absorption through the skin which explained the dizzying headaches. Another metabolic byproduct once entering to bloodstream is formaldehyde, so no need to pay the mortician an embalming fee!
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/buyer-beware-dangerous-paint-strippers-still-sold
The products were to be made off the shelf by a certain date....
EPA’s own scientists found that methylene chloride and NMP pose health risks to the public, including cancer, harm to the nervous system and to fetal development, and death. According to the EPA, more than 60,000 U.S. workers and 2 million consumers are exposed to methylene chloride and NMP annually.
Painting and coating removal were some of the highest exposure risks. Compounding the problem, these stripping agents are often used in areas with limited ventilation, including bathrooms. Methylene chloride is heavier than air, so the highest concentration drifts to the floor, where painting contractors are often working on their knees.
OK so I guess since I wasn't the lowest level then I was a bit safer? I was working on my knees but I was outside - so it probably still drifted away...
An initial EPA proposal to ban the paint-stripping chemical was shelved by the Trump administration despite more deaths.
the chemical is still widely available in other items – from aerosol degreasers to sealants.
Methylene chloride deaths were recorded at least as far back as the 1940s. A 1976 medical journal piece detailed the chemical’s dangers and criticized the EPA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission for not acting.
https://www.nrdc.org/bio/sujatha-bergen/buyer-beware-dangerous-paint-strippers-still-sold
Across the board, 62% of the stores we visited were still selling methylene chloride and/or NMP paint stripper products. We found the two other retailers whose stores we visited are still intentionally selling their remaining stock of methylene chloride and/or NMP-based paint strippers, despite their pledge to phase out the sale of toxic paint strippers by the end of 2018.
And yet, 13 months after Atkins’ death, the under-pressure Trump EPA acted to stop retail sales of paint strippers with methylene chloride. And in April, the Biden EPA proposed a rule to ban the chemical in all consumer products and most workplace uses.
“It’s rare that we do this in America,” said Dr. Robert Harrison, a clinical professor of occupational and environmental medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. “These families are my heroes.”
(Methylene chloride kills when its fumes build up in enclosed spaces, and its ability to trigger a heart attack can look like death from natural causes if no one orders a toxicology test.)
In April 2024, EPA finalized prohibitions and workplace protections under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for methylene chloride to protect human health. EPA's final rule: Prohibits manufacturing, processing and distribution of methylene chloride for all consumer uses.
In March 2019, EPA issued a final rule to prohibit the manufacture (including import), processing, and distribution of methylene chloride in all paint and coating removers for consumer use. EPA has taken this action because of the acute fatalities that have resulted from exposure to the chemical. Jun 10, 2024
Methylene chloride is used in a variety of ways including consumer uses such as aerosol degreasers and brush cleaners for paints and coatings, commercial applications such as adhesives and sealants, and in industrial settings for making other chemicals. For example, methylene chloride is used as a chemical intermediate in the production of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) 32, which is used in refrigerant blends developed to replace substances with higher global warming potential.
No comments:
Post a Comment