Loss of all effective paint removers due to methylene chloride ban...

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Dave & Protection(s) from [[ ? ourselves ? ]]...

Hello Dave.

I always enjoy reading your posts, especially the restorations.

We're supposed to be a smarter, more well educated society; & yet, common sense, common courtesy, & common decency are NOT as common as they used to be!!!

I've met (or heard) some people with more degrees than a thermometer, & yet they were (are) dumber than a box of rocks!!!

In MANY instances, [we] need to be accountable for [our own] actions/choices, with limited exceptions.

I think this picture below sums up a lot, for 'some' of our society.

TY & hagd/n all,

Bill

0450

a007kirbyman-2020021212540604746_1.jpg
 
Key word "hobby"

so not exposed to the caustic chemical(s) every day occupationally, which brings higher risk. I think member Frigilux currrently uses his avatar photo of asthma cigarettes which were once made in Ontario Canada.
 
Read the paint remover ads in older Popular Mechanics,Popular Science,and Mechanics Illustrated magazines-paint removing was done with blithe abandon-The MC chemical paint removers,and mechanical paint removers-you used them on your Do-all tool-the electric drill.The dust from those was everywhere-operators NOT wearing any sort of breathing protection.Besides lead older paints contained chromium,and cadmium pigments in them-all toxic.Seemed like we lived thru all those!Would folks do these today???Now we have become afraid to do anything!Time to remove that paint with that disc sander in the drill!
 
MC Paint Removers Etc

MC should be banned from commonly available paint removing products that people causally pick up at their local Lowes and HD.

 

Yes Americans have come to expect that products we pick up off the shelves are pretty darn safe, and these products get scattered around homes left under sinks in closets basements etc.

 

Yes I do believe in better living through chemicals and I think MC paint removers should still be available but only through serious paint and auto body supply stores.

 

John L.
 
They used to .....

put a big skull and crossbones on packaging. Seems like they need to bring that back. Or some icon that gets your attention. They removed the skull and crossbones from packaging back in the 60's when kids started playing pirates and the whole pirate thing (maybe 50's walt disney?) making pirates fun. The skull and crossbones icon on packaging was then thought of as a liability as kids might look at it as a curiosity making the package more appealing. Today there seems to be more prominent warnings on a pack of cigarettes and in much bigger bolder font, than the "may cause death" in 8pt font on the back of a paint remover can buried within the instructions.

I'm afraid the new prop65 CA cancer warning will become the same way. In the last 3 days, I have seen it on the bicycle innertube I bought for the granddaughter, on the new kitchen faucet I replaced at my mom's apartment and the new end table lamps for the living room. People are going to start blowing the warning off if it shows up on everything you buy. I guess the old joke that everything causes cancer is true!

So I did some reading on the MC based paint remover health issue. The majority of deaths reported since 1985 were from people refinishing bathtubs (21 cases) or working on items in tight spaces with no ventilation. It appears MC fumes are much heavier than air and would collect in the tub. As people worked face down in the tub they breathed the MC fumes and once in the blood stream it gets converted to carbon monoxide, whereby causing asphyxiation or heart attack. Inhalation is the only reported transport method .... no reported cases from skin contact.

I like John's idea. Make it still available, but you have to go out of your way to get the stuff .... but also put the method by which the stuff can hurt you on the front of the can. Don't just put a big "Poison" label on the front as they do. But tell what the stuff will do to you and how. Something like, "If you don't suppy proper cross ventilation, you could die from asphyxiation or heart attack. Do not breathe fumes". Wait, I think that last line is already buried on the back in 8pt font!

[this post was last edited: 2/15/2020-18:03]
 
They're prob not worried about users inhaling the fumes irresponsibly but rather the gold spray paint in a bag or the Tide pods users as just another new thing of getting high off it.
 
I can't imagine why someone would be using this on the inside of a bathtub. Iron or steel fixtures are finished in porcelain enamel, and unaffected by paint strippers; fiberglass and acrylic units would probably be ruined by using such chemicals on them.

I have heard of the exterior of old claw foot tubs being painted, but that wouldn't involve someone having their head inside it.
 
Stripping Paint From The Inside Of Old Bath Tubs

Hi Tom, I have known of several people that were stripping the epoxy enamel off old bath tubs that had been repainted where the finish was failing and they wanted to refinish the tub again.

 

10s of thousands of old BTs get relished every year and these refinish jobs often don't wear well if not done correctly or cared for properly, and if 21 people died trying it must be done more often than one might imagine.

 

John L.
 
I once saw ....

an episode of "This Old House" where they showed an old claw foot tub being restored on site by a refinishing company. The poor tub had been painted a hideous pink by the home owner. The guy was using paint stripper to remove the old paint and it came off rather easily ... but he was inside one of the rooms in the house because there was snow on the ground outside. I remember seeing the guy bent over into the tub scrapping the old softened paint with a putty knife. I also remember he had a respirator and a floor fan blowing towards him.
 
John, I didn't think about tubs that had been previously refinished. I've seen ads for such services, but never known anyone who had that done. I can imagine it would be difficult to get the coating to adhere well, especially to glasslike surfaces.
 

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