Extremely stupid and ignorant to hazards with working with clay

[neilestrick]

Unless you

8 hours ago, B.H said:

Fast forward to now, over the past week I have started experiencing a constant pain across my chest and a feeling of needing to breathe deeper than normal, I also have a bit of a cough- all symptoms/ feelings Iv never had before!

I think that unless you have a history of breathing issues (asthma, etc) then the small amount of dust you've inhaled in your home studio is unlikely to be the cause of the problem here. It's allergy season, so that would be my first guess (although I am not a doctor). Even if you don't have a history of seasonal allergies, it's not at all uncommon for them to pop up nowadays. Regardless, you definitely should not be sanding indoors or working with powders or dry clay in general. Clean up trimming and such while they're still leather hard, sponge down surfaces, and wet mop the floors. These basic cleaning methods will reduce the dust to a level that should not be an issue.

[Callie Beller Diesel]

5 hours ago, B.H said:

I had also seen on some pages that there is an ‘acute’ version which can occur after short periods of lots of inhalation

The data from those studies are largely from folks working in mines, or doing things like industrial sandblasting. Definitely more exposure than you’ve described here. Take a closer look at the concentration numbers in those cases and compare them to the ion meter readings in your house, and you’ll probably feel much better about your exposure levels. 

If this one large sanding job is all you’ve really done, you’re probably fine. The housekeeping measures you describe are good general practice. Bear in mind the larger particles of clay, the ones that aren’t going to cause long term harm, are still lung irritants. There’s a lot more of those than there are of the superfine stuff. Give it a few days for your body to clear things out before you panic. If your weather has been exceptionally damp, a dehumidifier might help.

[Pres]

I would still seek medical help just incase you do have another issue.

 

best,

Pres

[B.H]

22 hours ago, Hulk said:

Hi B.H., welcome to the Forum!

My first reaction, seek medical attention for your symptoms.

Second, keep the dust under control, starting with no sanding inside, no mixing plasters inside, then add reasonable practices* from there.
Handling powders - plaster, glaze materials, et cetera - best done outside, or under a hood (where a fan driven current of air pulls the dust out and away), or in some other dedicated area that is not in the living space! Same for sanding.

How much dust, for how long leads to significant damage?
Good question. Search silicosis and read up to get an idea...
The immediate signals that one is getting way too much dust, uncomfortable eyes, accumulation of dust at the corner of one's eyes (buggers, aka bogeys), coughing, and more accumulation in one's nose, especially when the colour matches up.

Please keep in mind, however, that very light exposure, over a very long period of time, can be significant.

*I see it's raining in Southhampton this week, so under an overhang outside?

When I'm sanding wares, I sit outside with my P100 mask on.
I wash the dust off the ware (one bucket to rinse, second bucket to re-rinse), and use a shop vacuum to get most of the dust off my clothing before heading back inside.
I'm hosing down the dust into the flower bed, else it just blows inside when I open the doors...
I'm changing out of dusty shop clothes soon as I'm done making dust.

There are several Forum threads where dust control is discussed, here are a few:

QOTW: What tips do you have to make cleaning up your studio easier or more time efficient? - Int'l Ceramic Artists Network (ICAN) Operations and Benefits - Ceramic Arts Daily Community

Is silicosis inevitable?? - Studio Operations and Making Work - Ceramic Arts Daily Community

Very paranoid about Silicosis - Studio Operations and Making Work - Ceramic Arts Daily Community

QoTW:  How much air movement do you have in your studio, do you use fans, is cleaning to reduce blown dust part of your process? - Int'l Ceramic Artists Network (ICAN) Operations and Benefits - Ceramic Arts Daily Community

dealing with a studio that has bad practices - Studio Operations and Making Work - Ceramic Arts Daily Community

 

Hello! Thank you so much for your reply- I agree, now I have read up more and am more aware, I definitely will not be doing any sort of sanding inside + taking better precautions. 
That’s great advice in terms of when too much dust may be indicated, and the process of how you sand outside!
And thank you very much for the links to threads- that’s been so helpful to look through!!! 
 

I wonder what your thoughts may be to working in an open studio which is basically your home, where there aren’t walls/ doors ect so studio is open to your lounge, kitchen ect. I know this would be a personal choice and not everyone’s choices would be the same! Just wondered what someone with more experience may think!
I am now for sure going to implement much more stringent safety precautions such as wiping clay bits with water straight away, moping floors every day, and changing out of my clothes/ wearing an apron and taking it off before I go into other parts of my home! 

 

Thank you again for your reply, hope you have a lovely rest of your day:) 

[B.H]

22 hours ago, neilestrick said:

Unless you

I think that unless you have a history of breathing issues (asthma, etc) then the small amount of dust you've inhaled in your home studio is unlikely to be the cause of the problem here. It's allergy season, so that would be my first guess (although I am not a doctor). Even if you don't have a history of seasonal allergies, it's not at all uncommon for them to pop up nowadays. Regardless, you definitely should not be sanding indoors or working with powders or dry clay in general. Clean up trimming and such while they're still leather hard, sponge down surfaces, and wet mop the floors. These basic cleaning methods will reduce the dust to a level that should not be an issue.

Hello, thank you for the reply- that’s made me feel better that the amounts of dust likely to have been in my home would have been relatively small- I think once I started to experience these symptoms I started to panic hahah. 
In case you were wondering, I did speak to to my GP today who thinks the symptoms may be related to asthma (which Iv never had before, but may have just been triggered by the dust) and referred on for an x-ray just to be sure there’s no chest infection ect, and didn’t seem to think the symptoms were in relation to silica like you also suggested, which is reassuring!
But with my new knowledge I definitely agree that trimming when leather hard, wet wiping/ moping at regular intervals is 100% something I will be implementing now! With what I’m making, I shouldn’t really need to sand, but I’f I do I’ll be straight outside and with a mask! 
I feel crazy I didn’t do that before, but at least I have learned now. 
 

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it. And if one thing has come out of having these symptoms, it’s been that Iv found this forum full of knowledgeable potters which is great! Thanks 

[B.H]

20 hours ago, Callie Beller Diesel said:

The data from those studies are largely from folks working in mines, or doing things like industrial sandblasting. Definitely more exposure than you’ve described here. Take a closer look at the concentration numbers in those cases and compare them to the ion meter readings in your house, and you’ll probably feel much better about your exposure levels. 

If this one large sanding job is all you’ve really done, you’re probably fine. The housekeeping measures you describe are good general practice. Bear in mind the larger particles of clay, the ones that aren’t going to cause long term harm, are still lung irritants. There’s a lot more of those than there are of the superfine stuff. Give it a few days for your body to clear things out before you panic. If your weather has been exceptionally damp, a dehumidifier might help.

Hello, thank you v much for your reply and reassuring words. Yes, Iv definitely not been doing any industrial work or anything of that sort, so the exposure to dust from the one sanding job may have just likely irritated things rather than caused a full blown development of silica. 
I think I tend to panic easily when it comes to health and experiencing some symptoms, and it is hard to go through all of the information on the internet without becoming more fearful!
So I appreciate the reassuring and useful words- thank you. 

[B.H]

11 hours ago, Pres said:

I would still seek medical help just incase you do have another issue.

 

best,

Pres

Thank you very much Pres, in case you were wondering at all I spoke to the GP who thinks it may be asthma triggered by dust, never had this before so even more of a reason to be cautious and for others out there to be cautious too (even though most are haha). And referred for a chest x-ray just to rule out an infection ect. 
 

Thank you for the reply:) take care 

[Callie Beller Diesel]

Things like lots of pet dander, pollen, heavy pollution or wildfire smoke can also cause this. It’s not necessarily allergies, just particulate.