Airbrushed Last Night For 15-20 Mins Without Respirator Mask

I am sure that you are fine. I am glad thet it made you aware of the need for caution but an isolated episode will not harm you. It is kind of like spending a few hours in a smokey club, you may feel discomfort but it will subside.

Maybe I am foolish, but I do not wear a mask or respirator.  When I spray with rattle cans I use a booth.  But I get so little overspray with an airbrush that I don't use the spray booth- I just spray at my workbench. I use enamel, but so far have not suffered any ill effect.

Operation that DOES require me to use a mask is sanding wood. I do a lot of scratch building and modifications, so work with wood a lot. I have become allergic to wood and sawdust really sets me off.

I do have a good respirator for large scale spraying. I was spraying body parts for my little full scale race car. I couldn't get the color I wanted in old fashioned lacquer, so had to get acrylic enamel.  Tried to use a regular dust mask and soon found out that was not adequate.   But for hobby enamels I get so little waste that my shop doesn't even smell afterwards when I airbrush. I just keep the spray small.  Been airbrushing for about thirty years and am in my seventies, so it can't be too bad for me.  Big spray from rattle cans is something else!

People have convinced themselves that acrylic paints are safe. They are not.

They are a little bit safer than enamel paints, and that's it. It's a bit like saying a knife is safer than a gun. Is Seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment) safer than Russian roulette?

Tamiya paints uses Isopropanol (Isopropyl Alcohol) and Glycol Ethers as solvents and both are considered moderate hazards for inhalation. Isopropanol can cause irreparable harm to the central nervous system. Life with a compromised nervous system is to be avoided. 15g of Isopropanol ingested by a 70kg (about 150 lbs) human can cause death. Glycol Ethers are even worse. At their most severe it can cause narcosis, pulmonary edema and liver or kidney damage. Chronic exposure can damage your bone marrow and lymphoid tissues.

At the very least, you want to protect your lungs from inhaling finely atomized bits of dried plastic.

I know that laquer vapor is a hazard.

But does anyone know whether a respirator is necessary when one airbrushes with tamiya acrylics? 

Also remember that some things atomized in the airbrush can give you some lung reactions.

I have had that happen in the past when I was airbrushing T-shirts. After I was done painting I would spray the airbrush into a cut out plastic milk jug I had that sat over the drain of a large garage sink.

I had the garage side door open and a fan blowing to exhaust paint fumes but when I sprayed cleaner like Windex or Formula 409 through the airbrush and into that milk jug I would catch a big whiff of that atomized cleaner and start coughing and get an asthma or bronchitis type attack for several minutes even after removing myself to fresh air. That is not good stuff to breath especially since I was diagnosed about 15 years ago with the beginning stage of COPD from 19 years of smoking. I quit smoking 11 years ago and my lungs have never gotten worse but I still wouldn't want to breath stuff like that much at all. I use a Badger spray booth here in my modeling room and have never had any problems or even smelled paint or cleaner much when painting.

I do spray out into a container that I made that is similar to the one Swanny has on his website with the respirator cartridge in it. Mine has a rag in the bottom of the old plastic container and a piece of airbrush booth filter sitting in the top to catch any particles. The smaller particles can come out into the air when I spray out the airbrush cleaner so I sit it into the paint booth and turn it on to exhaust any fumes that come out through the filter in the top.

If that's enough to hurt someone then I'd have been dead years ago. When I was a teenager I used to build into the wee hours. I'd fogg up my 12X12 room with spray cans then go to sleep at 3am. today I'm 40 and breathe fine. Don't mean I won't croak tomorrow but if I do ti won't be because I sucked up to much paint.

I'm sure that it's not related. You were using a spray booth vented out a window. When I got my first air brush, I put an ordinary fan behind me and merely blew the overspray away from me! I'm still alive and so is my family.

However, it is certainly not a good idea to breath in bits of dried paint. It is also not a good idea to breath in wood smoke, yet who can resist making s'mores on a camping trip?

Thanks for the replies so far.  For the record, I am 39 and I don't smoke. I take pretty good care of myself and am in good health.  MikeV is right, it's probably nothing to worry about in my case, as I do not habitually airbrush without protection and I don't have a long history of working exposed to paint fumes.  Never worked around asbetos either, although I do live in Los Angeles and the air quality here isn't always so great, so I can only imagine the things I'm breathing in every day.

Basically I woke up this morning with an ache in my chest and felt both concerned and stupid for not wearing my respirator.  You read about the dangers of atomized particles settling in your lungs and it can be a bit scary.  Feeling better tonight, fortunately, and I can tell it's improving.  I'm just letting this little episode be a good reminder about always wearing protection, even when using acrylics and/or only spraying for a short session.

Just a couple of points:

I don't know Kizzy's age or history.  He may be a chain smoker for all I know.  He may have worked with asbestos or some other dusty material.

He has had two events where he's felt discomfort after exposure to paint spray, and he's concerned about it.

Yes, there are a lot of bad things in the air depending on where you live and what you do.  But does that mean it's OK to add more?

Of course one episode won't cause lung damage, but it may indicate damage that is already there.  And if it is there, it makes sense to be extra careful.  If he feels OK after a day or two, fine.  But if it hangs on, I still think he should see about it.  That's just my opinion, and it's worth exactly what it costs.

Don

Don Wheeler

I would say that if it doesn't go away in a day or two, you should talk to your doctor.  You may have the beginnings of a lung problem.  I had similar symptoms that took weeks to clear up and I was diagnosed with pleural thickening in my upper chest.  Apparently there is no treatment for it, so I am very careful about dust and fumes.  It is interesting that even though you were using acrylics and a vented spray booth, you still had a problem.  That should be a heads up for others who do the same.  My understanding is that lung damage is cumulative and there may not be any symptoms until significant harm is done.  Others may know more.

Don

I think it would take a LOT more than that little episode to cause lung damage.

I have a friend that has really bad lungs now as he is in his early 60's but he airbrushed in the automotive industry for over 35 years or more. Many of those early years were with little to no respirator so that gives you an idea of what paint does in the long run. Sure it's not good to put anything in your lungs other than air but a little paint from one spraying session is nothing to worry about. We inhale far more garbage into our lungs yearly than that.

I would say that if it doesn't go away in a day or two, you should talk to your doctor.  You may have the beginnings of a lung problem.  I had similar symptoms that took weeks to clear up and I was diagnosed with pleural thickening in my upper chest.  Apparently there is no treatment for it, so I am very careful about dust and fumes.  It is interesting that even though you were using acrylics and a vented spray booth, you still had a problem.  That should be a heads up for others who do the same.  My understanding is that lung damage is cumulative and there may not be any symptoms until significant harm is done.  Others may know more.

Don

Well you could let your nose hairs grow out...that would help on the times when you forget your mask.