Survey says......

Since the PVC/primer debate has heated up recently, I would like to ask about the fumes! How many of you if you do PVC or CPVC jobs, like new construction or a large remodel, maybe in an attic or crawlspace....use an organic vapor respirator?? Do you have any concerns about the effects of the vapors? Has anyone heard of plumbers actually suffering health issues from short or long term exposure to fumes?

I am just curious about this, because we know that lead and flux fumes are not good for you, but I have not heard about plumbers having shortened life expectancy or cancer issues from on the job exposure. Maybe you just dont hear about these because they dont make the news???

I remember people in the Navy who had developed severe sesitivity to our 2-part epoxy hull paint. We had no safety gear at all, and certain people had a bad reaction after doing too much work with that stuff.

Jim, you could do a survey here, I bet others would be interested.

* This I didn't know:

A Contaminant to Recycling
PVC cannot be effectively recycled due to the many different toxic additives used to soften or stabilize PVC, which can contaminate the recycling batch. Most consumers do not know that a 3 in the recycle symbol indicates that the plastic is made of PVC, and therefore recycle those products, inadvertently rendering thousands of potentially recycled containers useless. In fact just one PVC bottle can contaminate a recycling load of 100,000 PET bottles. Recycling of PVC is negligible, with estimates ranging from 0.1% to 3% of postconsumer PVC waste being recycled.

PVC primer and cement fumes are a concern, same goes for ABS cement fumes. Using a fan to circulate air, if one remembers to put one on the truck, can be of help. Skin absorption is another concern. Gloves are a solution, but they are a pain to work with.