I’m interested in getting the right respirator for painting with you “average” model railroad paints - Scalecoat, Floquil, etc.
The brand of respirator I see most often is AO Saftey but the R53HE-P100 cartridges that come with it indicate it is NOT for paints containing Isocyanates.
Does anyone know if that kind of cartridge would be good enough?
Considering the safety issue, I’d like to be absolutely sure before trusting my health to it.
891,
Good question.
More than likely you are safe with this respirator, but check the warning labels of these paints. As far as I know, by federal standards isocyante warnings must be posted on the container. I always recommend 3M respirators. Best deals are at automotive paint supply stores, like Finishmaster. Hobby shops and home stores tend to sell them at higher prices.
Isocyantes are usually found in automotive and industrial paints. The paint industry has been working since the 1990s to eliminate isocyanates, which can damage the nervous system and increase cancer risk. Very bad stuff!
Years ago, I painted transit buses with DuPont’s Imron Polyurethane paint, which is a smelly, glossy and very tough paint. (If I’m not mistaken, Union Pacific used it on the blue Olympic Games locomotives. Santa Fe used it years back in the 80s on a couple of non-operating F-units used for displays at public train shows ).
One of our guys, Pete (an ex-Tampa police officer) was a strong 260 pound body builder. Apparently thinking the danger was “exaggerated” Pete would not use the correct respirator and after a year, he was virtually a train wreck and had to quit. Sad case, as he was fun loving jokester.
Be safe![:D][;)]
While I am not sure what specific kind of respirator you are looking for, here is a link to the Lab Safety website for their Respirators:
https://www.labsafety.com/store/dept.asp?dept_id=64
I have never purchased respirators from them but I have made many purchases of their safety glasses and ear plugs. They have a wide variety of just about any safety item you are looking to stock your work area. They have many options to choose from.
Hope this helps,
Ryan
Just contact a local automotive paint supply store and get what the car painters are using. The paint and hardner they use is nasty. Most of the time they change cartriges after every paint job but you’ll get more life out of them with the small amount of over spray you’ll be producing. I personally don’t bother with one. I just make sure I have good ventilation.