Occupational asthma from spray painting

Are you saying that if I spray my car with a paint and / or a hardener that contains isocyanate that I cannot ever breath near the car, or touch it?

Occupational Asthma, Worker, 2/20/2006, 2/20/2006,

Isocyanates in 2-pack car paints are only a problem when they are not fully reacted. Once the paint is cured there should be no problems. During mixing, painting and curing some of the isocyanate gets into the air. What then happens depends on whether you (or anybody else nearby) has become sensitised to the isocyanate. Once sensitised, an asthma attack is likely. This attack may be delayed for several hours after the exposure started, but can last for days (occasionally weeks) after a single exposure. If you are not sensitised nothing is likely to happen. However the more you are exposed to isocyanates, and the higher the levels of exposure are, the more likely that you too will become sensitised. You will then have asthma attacks after every exposure like a sensitised individual. In my opinion all spray-painting using 2-pack isocyanates should be done with full respiratory protection and an outside air supply. This should be put on before starting mixing, not removed during spraying, or untill well away from the spray booth. I realise this is difficult to do. Spray painters remain the group with the highest risk of occupational asthma in many countries.

2/20/2006