Exposure to Various Concentrations of Sodium Hypochlorite

[Matt]

This is kind of a morbid topic, but I noticed there is very little information on this subject.  Now, there's really no scientific method to gaining data for this, but I wanted to at least compile some various responses based upon the exposures people have had (all of which I'm hoping are accidental!) to various concentrations of SH.  Some things to include would be the percentage of concentration you were exposed to, the duration it was on your skin, and the effect.  For instance, I'm curious what (if anyone's) findings were when being exposed to 1% SH, or 2% SH, or 4% etc.  From trying to search for and reading peoples exposures, it looks like there are even effects that are found long after the exposure actually occurred.

Anyhow, I'll be interested in any responses.  Who knows though, maybe I'm the only person interested in this question.

Edited October 21, 2015 by Matt

[guns and hoses]

NO i think its probably a concern for all of us. I had similar questions, but i will wait to see what others say first to your original topic for fear of derailing/hijacking it

[Southern Roof & Exterior]

I just opened my first barrel of 12.5% SH today and I IMMEDIATELY was able to get it all over myself.  My hands feel very dry, but other than that, my clothes were the biggest loss.  I now have a set of dedicated clothes just for roof cleaning, because they were completely ruined. I was wearing a chlorine rated respirator, but will make sure to wear gloves that provide adequate protection from now on.  

[Apple Roof Cleaning (813) 655-8777]

Matt and Pine Belt, you are both Premium Members, and if you have websites/facebook pages, a link to them should be in your Forum signatures for best SEO.

 

[PeakOfPerfection]

Long term skin exposure to SH can be detrimental. It is not, however, the chlorine that is the problem, it is the small percentage of Sodium Hydroxide in SH. It can and will cause skin burns, sometimes pretty significant ones. Full length coverings, PVC gloves, and eye protection are a must. Most importantly...awareness and common sense. If your pants are soaked in SH, rinse them and your legs off. If your sleeves or hands are getting soaked during a job....rinse them off and change or fix what is causing the problem. A minute or two isn't typically gonna hurt and most guys can go through a career without any issues if they are smart. But leaving it on yiu and ignoring it can do damage. If you feel burning or tingling, DO NOT IGNORE IT. Failure to pay attention like an ex idiot employee did leads to this...

Edited December 5, 2015 by PeakOfPerfection

[Matt]

Matt and Pine Belt, you are both Premium Members, and if you have websites/facebook pages, a link to them should be in your Forum signatures for best SEO.

 

I'm looking at 2016 for the business being up and going.  Don't worry though Chris, the moment it is, I'll be putting all of my information into my signature and probably changing my forum name to be appropriate for the business.

[guns and hoses]

Well glad you opened this up again. Kevin with peak is right on point. I'm wondering also if any of you applicators wear respirators at all. That's one of my big concerns.  As far as clothing. Besides the cougar claws. Do any of you have a recommendation for shoes that hold up well. It's eating up 60 dollar boots like crazy. We walk roofs so your standard oversize rubber boots are not stable enough. 

[PeakOfPerfection]

Respirators are a very good idea. If you are going to wear them, you must use chlorine rated cartridges. If you just go buy P100 cartridges on a respirator from Lowes, won't do you any good. Remember your ground man for safety too. If anybody is likely to get splashed, it  is them. Hat, gloves and glasses are a requirement at a minimum. Respirator too...Chlorine sinks. Again, I must emphasize glasses for your ground man. Seriously. 

 

[guns and hoses]

What filters are rated for SH?  Where do I get them?

PS Kevin Any chance that you can track my pump and see where its at?  I might be experiencing some serious Head Pressure. First 2 days the other pump was fine . Yesterday it started acting up.  1/2 hose 50 foot lateral lift. Towards the end o f the day the The pump started gradually slowing down to a crawl and stop pumping altogheter. I luckily had a 2nd output plumbed in and I would open the valve to bleed and prime and in about 15 seconds it would pick up again. I don't think its the pump because once on the ground it washed out fine. Today I am ggoing to bypass the reel and plumb directly to the pump. To see if that helps.  Any immediate help or suggestions to get thru this job. I got about 4 more days to go.

Thanks Glenn

[Curb Appeal Pros LLC]

What filters are rated for SH?  Where do I get them?

PS Kevin Any chance that you can track my pump and see where its at?  I might be experiencing some serious Head Pressure. First 2 days the other pump was fine . Yesterday it started acting up.  1/2 hose 50 foot lateral lift. Towards the end o f the day the The pump started gradually slowing down to a crawl and stop pumping altogheter. I luckily had a 2nd output plumbed in and I would open the valve to bleed and prime and in about 15 seconds it would pick up again. I don't think its the pump because once on the ground it washed out fine. Today I am ggoing to bypass the reel and plumb directly to the pump. To see if that helps.  Any immediate help or suggestions to get thru this job. I got about 4 more days to go.

Thanks Glenn

Here is a link to a SH filter for your mask http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AEFCKKY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

[PeakOfPerfection]

HI Glenn,

Sounds like your pump iced up, classic symptoms. That is an ARO if I remember correctly and those are really hard to ice. However, when you are running high lift extended operations, you are pushing maximum CFM through the pump. Look to see if there is a lot of vapor coming out of the exhaust. 

One thing to always do if you are running a tanked compressor on larger jobs is to do regular tank dumps during the day. This helps clear out the accumulated water in the tank. If you don't, eventually a big slug will go through and that can cause issues. 

What are you running for water separator again and is it getting hot? If it is, the air is too hot for it to work so you'll need to cool the air charge down.  

I will track your other pump and find out where it ended up since I believe my guys shipped it over a week ago. 

[Apple Roof Cleaning (813) 655-8777]

What filters are rated for SH?  Where do I get them?

PS Kevin Any chance that you can track my pump and see where its at?  I might be experiencing some serious Head Pressure. First 2 days the other pump was fine . Yesterday it started acting up.  1/2 hose 50 foot lateral lift. Towards the end o f the day the The pump started gradually slowing down to a crawl and stop pumping altogheter. I luckily had a 2nd output plumbed in and I would open the valve to bleed and prime and in about 15 seconds it would pick up again. I don't think its the pump because once on the ground it washed out fine. Today I am ggoing to bypass the reel and plumb directly to the pump. To see if that helps.  Any immediate help or suggestions to get thru this job. I got about 4 more days to go.

Thanks Glenn

Small 1/2 inch hose is quite restrictive, and could be a part of your problem. Any air diaphragm pump will spray better with 5/8 or 3/4 inch hose. 

[guns and hoses]

HI Glenn,

Sounds like your pump iced up, classic symptoms. That is an ARO if I remember correctly and those are really hard to ice. However, when you are running high lift extended operations, you are pushing maximum CFM through the pump. Look to see if there is a lot of vapor coming out of the exhaust. 

One thing to always do if you are running a tanked compressor on larger jobs is to do regular tank dumps during the day. This helps clear out the accumulated water in the tank. If you don't, eventually a big slug will go through and that can cause issues. 

What are you running for water separator again and is it getting hot? If it is, the air is too hot for it to work so you'll need to cool the air charge down.  

I will track your other pump and find out where it ended up since I believe my guys shipped it over a week ago. 

Well I don't know what is at fault yet. It does sound like its icing.  Not a lot of vapor though. It s in the low 40s every morning since I started this job.  The unloader seems to be bad on my compressor. But I may have more than two things working against me and going on at once. I know I have too small a hose probably for a 50 vertical lift.  So I have a lot of head pressure too.  So my lead man made a suggestion that sounds good.  "Why don't we put a basic back flow preventer on after the pump to relieve the pump of head pressure. Going to ACE in the morning to give it a try unless you guys tell me its a waste of time.  Let me know  TIA

[Shingle Brite]

I had lots of issues with my air system in the beginning. The main culprit was I had the air lines completely backwards. I suggest you review your setup. It should be longest air hose from ac to water separator to filter/regulator then short air hose to pump. Like I said, mine was completely backwards and it would stall, freeze up, pump like mad, not pump at all etc. 

[guns and hoses]

My situation is just the opposite. I have it set up right. NO issues from the beginning.  Have pumped about 8000 gals and not had a single issue until this job.  To answer Kevin I have a water seperator from Northern tool. It is not trapping much moisture this time of year. I do not have a filter/regulator though.  The AC is under warranty but I found out Hitachi warranty service sucks. They slow you out of the claim knowing (I think)  that you will just pay to get working. They gave me two different warranty service centers and both said we don't do thier service and have not for quite some time. I have no one in all of orlando that does thier service anymore. So I am going to send them a letter and note that I designated myself a service tech. Give me my money back. Its common knowledge anyway that your unloader is junk. I hope it comes in today so I can test it out on this job to see if its part of the problem. We are limping along. I have to stay close to the pump and re prime it when it slows/stalls/ices.  It used to take about 30 seconds to build up and idle down. Now its like 90 seconds before lunch.  After lunch it never idles down and barely holds 80psi. MInd you we are running non stop all day pumping about 320 to 350 gals straight up 50 feet on 300 foot of 1/2 line.

PS kevin you were going to track that pump. Still have not seen it or the delivery guy.

[PeakOfPerfection]

The check valve won't help the head pressure since you are still moving fluid up against a column of water. It will help if you need to disconnect the hose from the pump while it is up high. The only check valves that will last are the Chemtrol Viton flap valve in PVC or Kynar. Your typical check valve is spring loaded and the spring will rust in a day and will actually add to the head pressure with resistance. 

It may not be trapping a lot of moisture because the air is too hot and the design sucks. And fall/winter is the time when you are most likely to get icing. We rarely have a lot of water in the summer...but winter time, tons of water is flowing out of our Tsunami separators. The rule of thumb is, if the air line or water separator is warm to the touch or hot, it isn't working and you are icing. 

As for the compressor, THIS is the reason I keep recommending the Eaton compressors to guys. They are designed to run all day long in a commercial setting pushing air at max output. The consumer grade compressors just won't hold up to 8 hr/day operation. Get ye one of their Honda Portable 20 CFM compressors and you'll have all the lift you need from that pump and a 5 year warranty with proper construction that won't suck. 

As for the pump. It is lost. Totally lost. USPS shows nothing, not even a scan and it was dropped off to them. So I am out on that one. I have 4 more 1/2" pumps on the way in and will get one put together for you ASAP and express it out. They are practically brand new Yamada's which should do well in your setup with minimal CFM. I just ordered a cr@p ton of new O-rings for them.  

Edited January 19, 2016 by PeakOfPerfection

[guns and hoses]

The check valve won't help the head pressure since you are still moving fluid up against a column of water. It will help if you need to disconnect the hose from the pump while it is up high. The only check valves that will last are the Chemtrol Viton flap valve in PVC or Kynar. Your typical check valve is spring loaded and the spring will rust in a day and will actually add to the head pressure with resistance. 

It may not be trapping a lot of moisture because the air is too hot and the design sucks. And fall/winter is the time when you are most likely to get icing. We rarely have a lot of water in the summer...but winter time, tons of water is flowing out of our Tsunami separators. The rule of thumb is, if the air line or water separator is warm to the touch or hot, it isn't working and you are icing. 

As for the compressor, THIS is the reason I keep recommending the Eaton compressors to guys. They are designed to run all day long in a commercial setting pushing air at max output. The consumer grade compressors just won't hold up to 8 hr/day operation. Get ye one of their Honda Portable 20 CFM compressors and you'll have all the lift you need from that pump and a 5 year warranty with proper construction that won't suck. 

As for the pump. It is lost. Totally lost. USPS shows nothing, not even a scan and it was dropped off to them. So I am out on that one. I have 4 more 1/2" pumps on the way in and will get one put together for you ASAP and express it out. They are practically brand new Yamada's which should do well in your setup with minimal CFM. I just ordered a cr@p ton of new O-rings for them.  

Well that really sucks for both of us. Thats our govt run postal service for you.  Am I going to like the Yamada more than the ARO?  Any Idea when you might be getting them on your end.  It must be the opposite here. It was getting tons of water out in the summer when humidity was high. Very little now. I notice when I drain my tank at the end of the day. It is so cold it ices on my deck a little ice cap. 

I'm only out 9 bucks on the check valve. But what you said makes perfect sense not that I think about it.  

[PeakOfPerfection]

Well that really sucks for both of us. Thats our govt run postal service for you.  Am I going to like the Yamada more than the ARO?  Any Idea when you might be getting them on your end.  It must be the opposite here. It was getting tons of water out in the summer when humidity was high. Very little now. I notice when I drain my tank at the end of the day. It is so cold it ices on my deck a little ice cap. 

I'm only out 9 bucks on the check valve. But what you said makes perfect sense not that I think about it.  

Being Marginal on air, you probably will like the Yamada better. The ARO is more CFM hungry. I prefer the ARO for build quality but it pumps a bit less with under 10 CFM than the Yamada does. Yamada is more prone to icing than the ARO so you do want a good water sep system for it.

You will make ice more easily during the winter and with colder temps, the smaller amount of water is more prone to making ice than when it is hot during the summer. We get the most vapor out of our pump in the late fall and winter and if I run a pump without a good water sep (which I do when testing on my test bench rig), it is more likely ice up when it is 35 degree out than when it is a blazing hot 80 degrees in the summer here in Bellingham.