Discussion Anyone experience issues with ecosolvent, UV, vinyl smell?

[Turbogfx16]

Hey all,
Just wondering your thoughts on running ecosolvent printers, UV Flatbed, routers etc and any health effects you've seen. Hear PVC dust is gnarley. Long story short since I started working in signs 4 years ago I've had bad tree pollen allergies that get me in the lungs, coincidence I'd bet. I went to an office job a year ago to start troubleshooting my health and all is good, confirmed seasonal allergies. But I really miss working in signs. Had an opportunity to be a manager at a small shop, and my heart really wanted it, but I was still in the weeds on my health. Shop was basically a giant room and wreaks of UV inks, so I had to pass at the time. I don't think there's any fresh air system and there's definitely no exhaust hood for the eco printer. Can't say the smells have ever directly given me issues and I've never had asthma. Wish I could man up but i can't get over that one aspect. Being an email administrator ("PM") is driving me up the wall.

Any personal experiences? I appreciate it.

 

[outacontrol41]

Hey all,
Just wondering your thoughts on running ecosolvent printers, UV Flatbed, routers etc and any health effects you've seen. Hear PVC dust is gnarley. Long story short since I started working in signs 4 years ago I've had bad tree pollen allergies that get me in the lungs, coincidence I'd bet. I went to an office job a year ago to start troubleshooting my health and all is good, confirmed seasonal allergies. But I really miss working in signs. Had an opportunity to be a manager at a small shop, and my heart really wanted it, but I was still in the weeds on my health. Shop was basically a giant room and wreaks of UV inks, so I had to pass at the time. I don't think there's any fresh air system and there's definitely no exhaust hood for the eco printer. Can't say the smells have ever directly given me issues and I've never had asthma. Wish I could man up but i can't get over that one aspect. Being an email administrator ("PM") is driving me up the wall.

Any personal experiences? I appreciate it.

I simply leave the door open and crack a window. If it gets overwhelming I temporarily leave the room. The smell is temporary and goes away after printing is done.

 

[unclebun]

I started with a Mimaki JV3. You could not stand to be in the same room with that printer, though I knew some big places that had their people working in a room with two of them. I put the printer in a room by itself with outside venting. With the Epson S70670 I use now, it's about 5 feet away from my desk and it's no problem.

 

[karst41]

Dont skrew around with this!

You need a Front fume shield and an air purification unit that attaches to the hood. The air purification is a large vacuum that contains at minimum coarse ground charcoal. and this will remove the chemical fumes and returns a cleaner air to the room.

Even better still would be to add this:

Soda limeis a mixture of NaOH & CaO chemicals, used in granular form in closed breathing environments, such as general anaesthesia, submarines, rebreathers and recompression chambers, to remove carbon dioxide from breathing gases to prevent CO 2 retention and carbon dioxide poisoning. It is made by treating slaked lime with concentrated sodium hydroxide solution.

Your alternative is a hooded exhaust like you have in your kitchen, or a simple exhaust blower that will evacuate the air from the shop. Whoever services your HVAC systems can easily make and install.

Eco Solvent? In a pigs eye. Even my 560 latex blooms the pvc's of the print media. Do I trust? Heii No. It is summer so I print night time and when it starts smelling like Cat Pee. I open the bay door for a few minutes.

Good Luck

 

[Gino]

When you can't smell the odors/fumes, that's when it becomes dangerous. Many companies have put ingredients into the inks to make them more odorless. That's only masking the harmful contaminants in the air which can harm lung tissue and cause eye irritations and whatnot. Without a good (and legal) ventilation system, you sound like you shouldn't be in there ........ smell or no smell. Warnings are on the labels. Read them.

 

[Michael-Nola]

Are they "that bad" for most people? No. "That bad" meaning it won't harm most people on a daily basis. But certainly everyone will have different sensitivity levels - some drastically more than others.

That said, look at the manufacturing industry across the board - we learned what "not that bad daily" means compared to long term effects. Our parents' generation cleaned their hands with MEK, Xylene, Acetone, etc - all those chemicals are now classified as known carcinogens because they absolutely kill you, just one day at a time. Same holds true with the inks we inhale. They are a one day at a time killer.

Now we know to NEVER clean our hands with all those harsh chemicals to rid ourselves of paint, ink, etc. Same thing with our fumes - "just get used to it" was the old answer. Now we know we shouldn't be breathing it even if we're not whiners about the smell . Always buy the best equipment and the best inks, and proper ventilation will go ALL the way to keep you safe. Vent your printers, and positive vent your buildings. Any building engineer can do this for you, and you are correct to be conscientious of it.

When it comes to infrastructure, always do it right the first time! If you still have that job opportunity, let the owner know you want it and that you're also interested in the health of and proper equipment configuration for all their employees. That's an asset you bring to the table, not a burden. I would consider any manager not conscious of complete business management, health and equipment management included, a shortcoming in their capabilities. Proper ventilation also rolls downhill into most future equipment. Once the infrastructure is there it is easy to adapt to new versions.

That all said. I've been around hard ink fumes for extended times and for years ... and it certainly never made me feel better I have witnessed many people suffer serious adverse reactions to fumes and chemical contact. Stay safe.

 

[ColorCrest]

I addition to what's been mentioned above, know that many printing machine fumes are heavier than air. Therefore, typical HVAC vents from above can force fumes out of an area if there is an outlet to do so, such as on open roll-up door, exhaust vent along a baseboard, etc. Exhausting from above usually requires a rather expensive and sometimes loud system.

Also, some people can be more susceptible than other to certain fumes. A notable case was the creator and operator of the OnyxTalk website who learned he was allergic to latex printing and decided to quit the trade. So the story goes.

Good luck.

 

[d fleming]

None of you should ever get into the coro screen printing business. ;-)