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Respirators, Beards, And Mixing Glazes


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Hi All,

 

Bluntly, I'm a hairy-faced potter.  I've read (here, for example) that respirators can't make a good seal over a beard (barring very, very expensive compressor driven options), and in the past I've used a cheap dust mask, like the kind woodworkers use, when mixing glazes and called it better than nothing.  

 

My first question: Is a decent respirator worn over a full beard and moustache better than just using a dust mask, or nothing at all?  I suspect that it is, but I'd like to hear the opinions of those of you who might know more.

 

Secondly, would I be better off looking at "full face" respirators?  And if so, how do they compare in terms of comfort?  If it's torture to wear it will end up on the shelf, and then paying the extra $100 for a full face model will rankle.  

 

And finally, I was at the local Lowe's today, and the selection of respirators is poor, and there are none open to try on.  I can check Home Depot, but I suspect it's the same situation.  So how do I go about choosing one (from some online seller) that will fit as well as it can, and be reasonably comfortable?  If you have specific model recommendations, I'd like to hear them.

 

I am just looking to guard against dust, specifically silica dust.  I use some coloring oxides, but for the most part they are in small quantities and I can be careful with them.

 

And for the record, yes, I know, I should shave my face and save my lungs.  But it's not happening -- the facial hair has been there for 30 years straight, and I wouldn't recognize myself without it.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

- Hy

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I cannot answer your basic question but have some advice on full face respirators...if you also wear glasses the respirator will not seal...the legs get in the way. You have to get specially made glasses to fit inside the mask. I bought a mask months ago that is still sitting on my shelf because I didn't consider this and I haven't ordered the lenses...I have asthma so have not done anything lately that a good particulate mask wouldn't protect against since I'm blind without my glasses. It's getting higher on my priority list.

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Check OSHA regulations on respirators, they should have articles on beards.  I have heard Vaseline in the beard to get a good seal, which just sounds icky.  I am female with a very small face, at work we were "fit tested" with half faced respirators in case we needed to use them, I failed since they just won't seal on my face.  So in an extreme hazard environment I wouldn't use them (so no hazardous environments for me :D ) but works fine for painting.  You have to get hazard specific canisters, for example they exist for particulates or organic vapors. 

Good luck with saving the lungs.

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Guest JBaymore

Check OSHA regulations on respirators, they should have articles on beards.  I have heard Vaseline in the beard to get a good seal, which just sounds icky.  I am female with a very small face, at work we were "fit tested" with half faced respirators in case we needed to use them, I failed since they just won't seal on my face.  So in an extreme hazard environment I wouldn't use them (so no hazardous environments for me :D ) but works fine for painting.  You have to get hazard specific canisters, for example they exist for particulates or organic vapors. 

Good luck with saving the lungs.

 

Used to be the Health and Safety Coordinator for my college.  Nope.. Vaseline is not "legal" if you are in an employment situation.  It is either shaved.... or positive pressure full face respirator.  Fit testing required.  Medical monitoring required.  Right to know education required.

 

SO the real question is how much do you want to gamble? 

 

It is very possible that the concentrations you are exposed to in your studio ops are not even at a level of real concern..... but until you know....... you don't know.

 

Is the gun loaded?  Have you checked?

 

There is no easy answer to this. 

 

best,

 

.................john

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Just shave the beard man. I did :blink: . I keep a little scruffyness but nothing like I used to have. I always make sure I shave before I do any glaze mixing. I don't shave down to the skin slick with cream and a razor, but I do use an electric razor down to the skin, grow it out a few days then buzz it again. The mask I use fits my face extremely well though, I was lucky and found one that fits with a really good seal after I shave. 

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I'm not looking for OSHA compliance -- it's just me in my home studio.  I'm going to mix glazes as carefully as I can; inevitably it will raise a little bit of dust.  I'm looking to cut down how much of it I inhale.  Any thoughts on whether a badly fitting respirator will do that for me, or if all the dust I would have been breathing in directly will just go around the edges of the respirator?  I realize there is no quantitative answer, but as I have zero experience with respirators, maybe someone else has some intuition.

 

- Hy

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Guest JBaymore

The point is that there IS no answer .... unless you have air sampling done to know what you are being exposed to.  It is not about "OSHA compliance", it is about believing the science that is behind those standards and then it is about your future health.

 

You with a beard and respirator and another person with a beard and respirator could actually have different levels of what gets through to the lungs.  Too many variables.

 

Then there is the level of exposure that the respirator is trying to protect you from.  What you have and what another person has can be different.  Too many variables.

 

Intuitively one would THINK that some of the air going into your lungs gets filtered while some leaks in unfiltered.  But the percentages and the levels are totally a guess.

 

If your go that route.... just pretend that you are mixing without any protection.  That would be the safest mental framework to take.

 

best,

 

................john

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Well ill give you some advice, you need to shave first of all... your risking your lungs if you dont...

 

2 ways to do this - a half mask, you can keep a small gotee..

Full face, you have to shave where ever the rubber seal meets the skin...

 

Osha testing, no sealant can be used "vasoline" must be sealed to dry smooth skin and then you get smoked with a type of tear gas... I have been through this several times and you better be sealed up tight or your gonna regret it...

 

Home use- vasoline put on thin will help you get a good tight seal - use the chemical cartridges , put your mask on and light a cigar real hot-hold it under your face and move it left to right,  if you smell the smoke its not a good seal... wait 15 minutes and retest...

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As John B. stated, there is no easy answer to this.  A respirator protects our lungs from dust that is inhaled.  But that same dust in the air can settle on your clothing -- or your exposed facial hair -- and possibly inhaled after you've removed your respirator.  So, you need to employ a range of tools -- including a respirator -- and techniques -- storing, measuring, mixing, etc. -- that minimize airborne particles as much as possible.  Think about how you remove dust from your clothing after mixing glazes.  Reducing risk needs a holistic approach, not reliance on one single safety device. 

 

Absent working in a clean room, we need to find comfort levels in how we reduce the risk of airborne particles.  Wearing a good fitted respirator is a great start . . . but it is only a start.  If you are doing this for an hour once every three months, the risk is different than if you were doing  this every day, all day long. 

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In my experience, when a man with a long-term, wedded-to-it, beard shaves it off he becomes a new creature...and after the initial heebie-jeebies comes to enjoy all the difference aspects of presenting that "new and different" self to Self and others. Unless it's down to your ankles and you're already 70, if you shave and can't deal, it WILL grow back! Lungs--not so much.

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I use the 3M 7500 series with a P100 cartridge.  I've found Envirosafety to have excellent prices and fast shipping.  This combo is sold as an asbestos abatement mask.  Can't personally speak to the beard issue.   

http://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/asbestos-abatement-respirator-kits.html

 

Here's a helpful link which answers questions about size, fitting, beards, etc.

http://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/resources/respirators-choosing-the-size.html

 

-SD

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