dust management, silicosis, and UIP lung disease.......

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WDAman

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Sorry if this has already been covered, but I just got a wakeup call. The gentleman I bought my business from just got diagnosed with UIP lung disease. This disease is fatal, no cure, except possible lung replacement. Now, he used to smoke, has had several heart attacks, has stage 4 prostate cancer, etc... The only one of these things affecting his mental and future bodily health currently is the UIP. Any of these things, or the treatments for them could contribute to UIP. However, being in the same lab and building that he used to work in for many many years kind of scares me. What I need from the rest of you is what exactly I need to do to protect myself, or where I need to look for such instruction. I have a velocity quatro, with a pre-filter accumulator for the old leaky sandblaster. He had a small shop vac, with the same sandblaster, without the pre-filter. I am using the same, well maintained, Handler vacuum for the grinding lathe for plaster. I have the same wall fan vent for the burn-out/ casting room. I also upgraded to a grinding box with a Vangard 1x mounted to it, that he did not have. The furnace filters are changed every three months, not sure what he did. Finally, neither of us has used masks for work, though they have been sitting in a drawer for over thirty years. Should I get a 3M rugged half mask reusable respirator with either N100 or P100 (which one?) filters? Are disposable masks OK for our purposes. Can I set things up so I don't have to worry about masks at all.

I am a one man lab, no monomers. My only concern right now is UIP mitigation. If you do not already know, we have a cluster of UIP in the dental field as stated by the CDC. It kind of makes Covid seem like a flu. You are not guaranteed to die with Covid, like UIP, without a lung transplant.

The worst part is finding any sort of respirator at all in a Covid world. Sorry if I am just not informed enough about the regulations and requirements of my chosen profession. Any help would be appreciated.

PS. He had no symptoms, they caught it early looking at or for something else, and there is a cheap $95,000.00 a year medication he is going to try to beat the 3 to 5 year sentence.
Thanks in advance.
 
CoolHandLuke

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wear a ventilated mask, with face shield. don't breathe casting, grinding, or milling dust. if you do repairs to the building itself, watch out for insulation, asbestos, old glue, drywall dust, or drop ceiling tile. its not just your breathing system that will be subsceptible. material can get into the mucus membrane of the eye.
 
Affinity

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Maybe look into another line of work.. I dont imagine many of us have pink lungs..
 
CoolHandLuke

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its not the single exposure that kills you, its the repeated exposure.

like working xrays for dentists. its not the one xray, its the 30k of them per year. thats why they need to stand out of the room.
 
Affinity

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I went to the dr a few years ago and asked what I need to do to test myself, my lungs.. etc.. He said, the only thing they can do is measure your breathing, and see if you have any diminished capacity over time.. this is the reason I dont go to Drs.
 
CoolHandLuke

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be real aware of the Nocebo effect



fear of a thing can give you symptoms of phantom diseases. but this is no reason to stop consulting professionals - it is in fact the best reason to consult professionals regarding your health.
 
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So... disposable vs. reusable is not as important as making sure it is vented? Just asking cause I would like the cheapest acceptable option if I feel I need it. Is Amazon the best place to get this stuff nowadays? Man I am a dinosaur. Found out I need an amazon business account to even get the fancy half mask I might want, if I need it. Worst part is I have a beard. I like my beard. It allows me to be lazy. Only have to shave once or twice a week. Also, even though I have no symptoms, and even am in better shape than I can remember, thank you Covid shut down, this stuff is scary when it hits close to home. I am sure most of you already know this.
As far as I am concerned, unless someone wants to provide a better, you guys are my professionals. If anyone would or should be concerned it would be us lifelong techs. I have no health problems, so I need no health professional. Thanks ahead for pertinent and reasonable cautions I should take.
Are there any jobs that my skills from being a dental technician would make me qualified? I am thinking four days a week, 50,000.00 dollars a year at least, nights and weekends off. I'd look myself, but I am too lazy. Must be time to go drink.
Please excuse my lack of grammar and train of thought.

Thanks for looking and responding.
 
JMN

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So... disposable vs. reusable is not as important as making sure it is vented? Just asking cause I would like the cheapest acceptable option if I feel I need it. Is Amazon the best place to get this stuff nowadays? Man I am a dinosaur. Found out I need an amazon business account to even get the fancy half mask I might want, if I need it. Worst part is I have a beard. I like my beard. It allows me to be lazy. Only have to shave once or twice a week. Also, even though I have no symptoms, and even am in better shape than I can remember, thank you Covid shut down, this stuff is scary when it hits close to home. I am sure most of you already know this.
As far as I am concerned, unless someone wants to provide a better, you guys are my professionals. If anyone would or should be concerned it would be us lifelong techs. I have no health problems, so I need no health professional. Thanks ahead for pertinent and reasonable cautions I should take.
Are there any jobs that my skills from being a dental technician would make me qualified? I am thinking four days a week, 50,000.00 dollars a year at least, nights and weekends off. I'd look myself, but I am too lazy. Must be time to go drink.
Please excuse my lack of grammar and train of thought.

Thanks for looking and responding.
I... I think...? I just met myself?
 
Affinity

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When the Dr is wearing practicing in a hawaiian shirt, Im not sure how much I value his opinion. Ive met more bad Drs than good ones.. and even the good ones just want to pump you full of chemicals.
 
denturist-student

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Wear a level 3 mask preferrably disposable. And invest in a small air cleaner such as a homedics dust filtration system. they are about 150 at Costco and work well. We have two of them one in our processing room, and one in the computer room. Havent had any dust issues since. our printer fanns are succeptible to dust accumulation so we have one in that room. I am thinking of adding one in the plaster room too.
 
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