Homebrew PCBs

On 2/1/2016 9:04 AM, AncelB mosaicmerc@... [Homebrew_PCBs] wrote:
>
> I did chemistry up to tertiary level and my father was a Canadian
> trained chemist...He is now blind in one eye and cannot smell AT ALL due
> to constant exposure to these very same type of hi volatility chemicals.
> <snip>The techs washed their paint smeared hands daily in
> a concoction full of aromatic rings..benzene,xylene, toluene; acetone
> was always there as well.
>
> After working for a week with them I started to have problems smelling
> things properly as well. I left that job.
>
> My fellow hobbyists, you must be aware that frequent exposure to that
> volatile stuff WILL penetrate your skin and breathing it in will get it
> into your system.<snip>
>

Hello--
As a young wiseguy radio/TV repair tech, I asked the shop manager why we 
were using methanol to clean
pots and switches instead of carbon tetrachloride, which I had 
discovered at the local electronic-supply
wholesaler.

"We used to buy carbon tet by the five-gallon pail", the boss replied, 
"And we had one tech who cleaned
everything with it, including washing his hands. Then one day his liver 
fell apart and he died. Any questions?"

Long-term chemical exposure isn't the only hazard to consider. Last year 
around this time I suffered an
anaphylactic shock reaction to bacteriostatic solution we had been using 
in a humidifier. That earned
me an ambulance ride to the hospital and a few miserable days recovering 
from a whole-body rash
that itched intensively. I was lucky, because I kept breathing and 
didn't totally lose consciousness.

The chemical(s) in question were likely quaternary ammonium compounds 
that served as the
bacteriostatic solution. I had no previous symptoms even though we had 
used the solution in
previous years.

Along with Ancel's comments, I suggest that you become familiar with the 
anaphylactic-shock
phenomenon, just in case you experience a reaction to a chemical or 
combination of
chemicals that you encounter in the PC-board process:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/anaphylaxis/basics/definition/con-20014324

So now, I pack a couple of EpiPens-- epinephrine injectors that 
counteract anaphylactic shock--
when I leave the house. "Concealed Carry" isn't just for handguns!

Be careful Out There.

73--

Brad  AA1IP