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I'm glad you asked about mineral spirits. In this whole thread I never heard a caution about it but on the back of my can it says it's pretty bad stuff. Starting with, and I quote, "Danger! Vapor Harmful. May affect the brain or nervous systemcausing dizziness, headache, or nausea. Causes eye, skin, nose and throat irritation. Warning: Use of this product will expose you to benzene which is known to cause cancer and to toluol which is known to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm." It is also highly flammable. If you spray it use an approved respirator, etc. So, don't wash your hands with it, don't breath the vapor. Wear nitrile gloves and make sure you have lots of cross ventilation while using it in any manner.

Be careful out there!

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Actually... we have discussed the health effects of various paints and thinners. Usually the discussions centered on warnings related to the 'vapors' that are released into the air.

They key concept is to always ensure 'adequate' ventilation when rolling. When 'rolling' your paint... there is not as significant an amount of vapors released in high concentrations as compared to spraying. But nonetheless as the paint is drying and the 'carrier' is evaporating, the concentrations will increase. So if you are 'rolling' in the garage - leave the garage doors open enough to get fresh air circulating - don't seal up the garage.

But for the guys who were spraying... the key concept was 'lots of ventilation' and even wear a ventilator. You want to block the atomized paint/spirit particles from entering your lungs and you want to ensure a clean supply of oxygen ( so that you don't get stoned out of your gourd and destroy your brain cells ). The atomized vapors caused by the spraying release higher concentrations of 'nasty' things into the air. So you don't want to spray in a closed garage for example...

It seems that just about anything - if given prolonged contact with skin - may pose a threat as a carcinogen. Next time you go to put gas in your car, look around for the 'health warning' signs that they post around the gas pumps. Gasoline is a potential carcinogen. So the gas pump warnings usually advise against 'prolonged exposure of your skin' to gas.

I don't think during the course of 'rollering' your paint job that you purposely soak your hands in the paint or the thinner. The only exception being when you are wiping down the car body with a dampened cloth ( with mineral spirits ) while you are trying to remove any foreign material from the body prior to painting.

I guess you could slip on a pair of rubber gloves while wiping down your car body with the cloth and thinner. Or maybe you might go and wash your hands or rinse them off after you did the body wipe down.

But I didn't bother taking those steps. I guess my theory is that I am not leaving my skin exposed to a 'prolonged exposure' of the mineral thinner. And further... any mineral spirit that does come in contact with your skin is busily evaporating from the moment it first comes in contact. So I don't think it poses as much of a health risk... then say if you were doing a hundred cars a year using this method.

Let's take it a step further. Women's hair dye color products are 100% more carcinogenic causing then mineral spirits or paints. Yet wifey's around the world dye their own hair at home. Some use the rubber gloves that come with the hair dye boxes... and many do not bother using the gloves. Their risk is negated because they usually wash it off their hands after the hair dye is applied to their head. BUT look at the poor hair care salon where the hairdresser is exposed to potentially doing 10 or 20 hair dye jobs per week. They run a greater risk due to the increased frequency they are coming in contact with the hair dye solutions. So in the hairdressers situation it is more advisable to wear the rubber gloves.

Naturally the package warnings are also trying to warn the truly stupid that the product should not be ingested ( eaten or drank ). And that holds the most dire threat to your health. Do not drink any of these products and definitely do not eat a sandwich or burrito while your hand is soaked in mineral spirits.

Further with this safety aspect of the discussion - we have clearly stated that smokers should avoid smoking while wiping down their car with mineral spirits, while thinning their paints or while painting their cars. I don't think the cigarette is going to ignite the volatile vapors that are being released... but the lighter or match used to light that ciggy may ignite the vapors. BUT HEY... if you are smoking... you already are throwing your health fears to the wind anyhow and carcinogens from paint or mineral spirits may be the least of your worries ahhahahh... ( me smoke... me bad )....

In a similar vain... don't use a fire powered heater or have an open source flame in an enclosed area where painting is going on. That warning is probably more important to guys who are 'spraying' compared to the guys who are rolling ( because of the concentration levels involved ). Otherwise your garage and car may be the next thing docking with the space station..

One warning or paranoia that I would definitely share with everyone is how you handle your rags that are coated with paint or mineral spirits. Personally I fear 'instantaneous combustion' where improperly stored rags may 'self ignite'. I always put my used rags in a METAL CAN and at the end of a days work..... I take that can out of the garage and leave it outside ( safely away from anything that it might ignite IF the can and cloths should 'self-ignite'. This is a carryover from my youth when I saw 'linseed' oil soaked rags that would self-ignite ( usually after a couple of hours ). Now... I don't think mineral or paint soaked rags will self-ignite like that.. BUT just call me paranoid and take that little extra measure so you can sleep happily at night knowing that your garage is not going to burn down. The one positive thing about taking this extra step is that you are removing from your garage all the potential 'vapors' that the can of used rags would have released while it was drying and evaporating... ( hence reducing concentrations of vapors in the air when you return to work in the garage the next day ).

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