When you hear funny noises....

[camcojb]

Originally Posted by Vegas69

It may be overkill, but I try to stay away from PTFE or Teflon as much as possible. Factory workers around that stuff in the 80's had a huge cancer spike and women had terrible birth defects. Gloves and ventilation are probably fine, I just wanted to share.

Probably too late for me with the amount of brake cleaner and other chemicals I've had on my skin over the years...

[Blown353]

Originally Posted by Vegas69

It may be overkill, but I try to stay away from PTFE or Teflon as much as possible. Factory workers around that stuff in the 80's had a huge cancer spike and women had terrible birth defects. Gloves and ventilation are probably fine, I just wanted to share.

We're in California, *everything* here causes cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm-- and by law has a Prop 65 sticker on it to prove it.

I bet the replacement bolts he ordered from McMaster will have a Prop 65 sticker on the box.

[Hydratech®]

Probably too late for me with the amount of brake cleaner and other chemicals I've had on my skin over the years..

I have been bitched at for bringing my personal problems into light by certain other people here, but I am going to do it yet again for the sake of anybody else possibly reading this. I was always the guy with the extended warranty in my younger days. No gloves, improper ventilation and masks, exposure to all kinds of solvents in liquid and atomized form, and on and on. Typical car guy, occasionally even washing my hands with gasoline - breathing in Turbo Blue, you know the type.

Well, it has finally caught up to me big time, and it isn't funny. I laughed at age 40, still invincible. 45? still invincible, strong as an ox, nothing is going to stop me, right? 50? BAM - SCREWED - WARRANTY EXPIRED. I wasn't much for seeing a doctor unless I needed stitches (doh!). I started feeling funky, kept denying it and waiting for it, whatever it was to pass. After months of not feeling so hot, I'm sitting down in the dentist's chair ready to be serviced, and they cuffed me to check my blood pressure prior to starting in (which is now becoming standard operating procedure in dentistry). They thought their equipment was faulty, so they tested a couple of themselves to baseline the readings, then cuffed me again. They took on a serious look in their eyes stating that they had to abort mission and that I needed to go straight to the emergency room as my blood pressure readings were in the stroke zone. WTF?!? I asked them to grab a different style of machine present and rerun the test - same result. Uh boy... I went into denial until the weekend, checking myself into the hospital Saturday morning to see what we may be dealing with. They panicked when they ran my blood pressure, dragged me off into a room, a bunch of nurses and doctors came rolling in, setting me up for ECG / EKG testing. I'm looking at the worry in everybody's eyes scrambling around, envisioning them having to crack me open based upon their demeanors. Thankfully the EKG testing showed everything flowing properly, with the mood calming down in the people attending to me. Hell, I chugged a beer before walking in (!) to help calm myself down (LOL?).

So I spent the whole day getting poked, prodded, and injected while waiting for all of the labs to come through. A doctor with a good bedside manner comes in, carefully preparing me for the news. Mr. Clark, our testing is showing that you have Diabetes Type II, as your glucose levels tested at 850. Your response to the insulin we administered to you earlier has shown that you are in a manageable state. Unfortunately, we have also discovered that your EGFR is in a trouble zone. She proceeds to ask me if I have been exposed to any harsh chemicals at the workplace. Um, yep. She continues on to say that it appears that I have Stage II kidney failure, likely caused by harsh chemicals and solvents, and that I need to address this with my employer. Um, where is a mirror so that I can have that discussion with my boss?

Sooooo..... after a few follow up visits, the Nephrologist had me bouncing around with a few different prescriptions to clarify what was going to be the most effective. I never knew that your kidneys regulate your blood pressure. Most people I have spoken with didn't know that either. The doctor is now pleased that she managed to get control of my blood pressure back down to almost normal levels with the meds, and I have improved to "only" having Stage 1 kidney issues now with the fistful of pills I now take on a regimented basis. She is comfortable enough now that she only brings me back in every six months now, as I have stabilized.

Summary? No more drinking of any sort - PERIOD. Damn I miss my Long Island Tea... Now it is gloves on anytime a chemical is present, as I now know that your skin absorbs all kinds of chemicals. I had always thought it was smart enough not to do that, but I was wrong - very wrong. Anytime anything is atomized or even generally sprayed, I put on my HazMat charcoal filtered NIOSH mask. She explained that if you can smell it, it is entering your blood stream, so it's gloves and masks for everybody here with a vigilance now, ventilation upgrades - no messing around.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not kid yourselves into thinking it is ok. IT IS NOT. Wear gloves, mask up, ventilate, and drink plenty of water. The things we work with as car guys is downplayed because it is so common. Now that I know, I can't go back in time, but will stand on my soap box and use my megaphone to preach that MSDS (material data sheets) are serious business. Even lawn care and pest control are viewed in a whole new light, as even these pedestrian common items are very very bad for you. Heck, ok, everything is bad for you. Remember the posts about brake cleaner and welding?

Let's all take a step back and look at these things a bit more seriously now!

[Vegas69]

Thank you for sharing Paul and I'm happy to hear you have things under control. We all carry a toxic load depending on our environment. The air, water, food, and misc. chemicals. Some we can avoid consciously, others not so much. Frankly, I don't trust the government to look out for me. There are well over 100,000 chemicals in circulation today. How many do you think have really been thoroughly tested? It's an impossible task. A big corporation putting a square peg through a round hole is more like it. They push it through and to market. Think about all the household cleaners, bug spray, food additives, weed spray and the list goes on and on to maintain society and our lifestyles. There are countless cancers that the medical field has no idea of the origination. My old man has Multiple Myeloma and it has become very common. Where did it come from? It's hard to say. The human body is very resilient, but it can only take so much. I think it's just common sense to reduce our toxic load by controlling what we can within our own environments. Consider organic foods, natural bug sprays and with less frequency, weeding by hand, natural deodorants, water filtration, gloves, and the list goes on and on. While none of us will make it out of this life alive, many live a fairly long duration, but with very poor health due to modern medicine extending their lives. It's the vitality we can invest in the years we are alive that really matters. I'm not a doctor, but I've studied health extensively for nearly a decade and I believe toxic load matters.

[Hydratech®]

It's always in the fine print, somewhere, sometimes even not... Have you seen the TV commercials about weed killer lawsuits? Again, if you can smell it or taste it - even if you can't, be wary of what you expose yourself to. You build awesome machines, tweak and polish them with pride, but don't forget to take care of yourself too. Your body knows how to flush most of itself out, but overloads and constant exposure will get you.

Just like Jody's hoist scenario, LISTEN to the warning signs, and then MAINTAIN appropriately. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate - it helps to flush out the bad stuff.

OK, 'nuff said - thank you for reading (really).