Hi All, I was just wondering if anyone has heard of any professional printers becoming ill or getting any type of cancers as a direct result of being in the profession.
I read somewhere that plastisol ink have a harmful agent that can cause cancer. (before it is cured). Also, some emulsions that need to be sensitized can have harmfull effects.
Also, if you have heard of any lung problems due to inhalation of toxic chemicals.
What precautions can you take to protect yourself?
What personal protection equipment do you use?
__________________ Insanity is when you keep on doing the same things, hoping for different results.
Hi All, I was just wondering if anyone has heard of any professional printers becoming ill or getting any type of cancers as a direct result of being in the profession.
I read somewhere that plastisol ink have a harmful agent that can cause cancer. (before it is cured). Also, some emulsions that need to be sensitized can have harmfull effects.
Also, if you have heard of any lung problems due to inhalation of toxic chemicals.
What precautions can you take to protect yourself?
What personal protection equipment do you use?
It's hard to detect whether someone becomes ill with cancer/illness with direct evidence of screen printing. Just breathing "fresh air" can give you cancer...just take precautions such as good ventilation, a respirator is using other inks, gloves, etc.
Hi All, I was just wondering if anyone has heard of any professional printers becoming ill or getting any type of cancers as a direct result of being in the profession.
I read somewhere that plastisol ink have a harmful agent that can cause cancer. (before it is cured). Also, some emulsions that need to be sensitized can have harmfull effects.
Also, if you have heard of any lung problems due to inhalation of toxic chemicals.
What precautions can you take to protect yourself?
What personal protection equipment do you use?
This is the number one issue for me because I am trying to get started in my basement. I obviously dont want to poison my family. I am looking into 2 areas to address this. Ventilation and safer inks. On the question of safer inks: I have not received any responses from the board so I guess I am forging forward on my own.
From what I can tell the risk is not from uncured ink because that stays in the container and does not evaporate. Many on the board suggest to wear gloves and dont eat it. However, when heated, the chemicals react and give off vapors. Many are concerned about PVC, Phthalate, Formaldehyde, heavy metals and several other compounds in the air at that point. Being in the basement, the rising air would take the fumes into the house above.
I am setting up a ventilation system using smaller portable blowers like the ones listed below on ebay and some parts from the local menards ot transition the exhaust to a flexile air duct. I am building 2 "hoods" that are suspended from the ceiling positioned directly over the flash curing station and one over the heat transfer machine to catch the gasses while transfering.
On the ink front, I am in the process of testing some non-pvc, non phthalate, non-formaldehyde, no-lead ink that has the same properties of plastisol. If you are interested in my results let me know.
The time order this ink is ridiculous because not many are using it. I anticipate receiving the ink in about 2 weeks. According to the manufacturer, it does not dry in the screen, can be thinned, and has the same washfastness as plastisol with a soft hand.
Unpolymerized vinyl chloride appears to be the biggest hazard you face working with plastisol inks. It's long been known to be associated in cancers of the lung, kidney, liver and blood. It can pollute groundwater, too, and shouldn't ever be disposed of down the drain.
Ideally, you should wear a NIOSH-approved respirator (using cartridges that are specifically intended to remove vinyl chloride), gloves, eye protection, tyvek suit and probably a condom to be really safe. Anything less increases the risk that you take working with the stuff.
The trend has been for the EPA to restrict the use of more and more dangerous materials as time goes by. Paints are now mostly water-based. Screenprinting inks probably lie below EPA's radar for now. It's just a matter of time before there will be a rush to switch to water-based inks.
Yes to all of your questions. Plastisol ink is petroleum based of course, not good for your skin. I'm sure there are other things in it too.
In recent years, I've gone to soy based products for cleaning screens. FRANMAR has some fabulous products I cannot live without, literally!
Many of us used to use things like paint thinner, mek, butyl celusolve acetate, acitone, all sorts of nasty stuff with different screenprint methods. Thankfully that is changing and we are wising up. Not much you can do about the emulsion, it's got some bad stuff in it too. But a precaution is to use gloves and not handle with your bare hands. Hope that helps.
Very good question and anyone considering taking up screen printing should be very concerned about working with solvent based products.
I began screen printing in my garage in the early 1980's. I was elbow deep in many types of solvents and other chemicals associated with screen printing for over two decades. In 2002 I was diagnosed with Non Hodkins Lymphoma, a type of cancer that attacks your lymph system. I first noticed it as a small pea sized lump on the inside of my leg in my groin area and it slowly grew to the size of a golf ball over a six month period.
After a biopsy confirmed that I had Lymphoma, I was referred to a Oncologist that specialized in this type of cancer. During my initial visit with this doctor he asked me my occupation. When I replied that I was an artist, he asked if I had been exposed to many solvents. When I said yes, I was a screen printer. He looked at me like, you dumb azz. I have since learned that Benzine, which is a chemical present in most solvents is a known cancer causing agent.
Did my exposure to solvents cause my cancer? Know one knows for sure, but more than likely it did. So, my advise to anyone starting out in this business is be careful. If your going to use plastisols, adhesive tack spray or any other solvent based products, limit your exposure. Wear gloves, work in well ventilated work spaces and take the warning labels on these products seriously. Better yet, do away with these products and use water based inks and non hazardous products if you can.
One last warning. If you do decide to work in this field, be sure you have good health insurance. It has cost in excess of a quarter of a million dollars to finance my battle with cancer.
Also, if you have heard of any lung problems due to inhalation of toxic chemicals.
Yes, I know a printer (though more ex-printer at this stage) who suffers from lung problems as a result of exposure to solvents in screenprinting. Another who has low tolerance for skin and odour irritations.
I love screenprinting, but from a health perspective I often ask myself if I'm making the right decision. With the exception of dehazer the chemicals I work with don't seem harsh, but I think seem can be deceiving, and intolerances can build up over time. I almost never use dehazer, and I'm thinking in future I'll just skip it (if a screen needs it, I'll buy a new one).
I'm wanting to work more with discharge, but my test printing has left me with no doubt it's bad stuff (despite what the MSDS claims). Printing is definitely filled with these dilemmas.
My friends dad owned a print shop for 45 years and he's a vegetable now. And it WAS attributed directly to his occupation. Toner Aid I think is the worst, and it smells like cotton candy... isn't that some ****.
Have you ever thought about what you are drinking in city water? Chlorine. BLEACH. Now it says right on the bottle not to ingest because it's a poison.
Now, think about what you use to clean your clothes. BLEACH FOR WHITES!!!!
Then look at some of the chemicals they are putting in our foods and drinks and calling it good for you. I've been told that some are the main ingredients in rat poison.
The point I'm trying to make is that cancer causing agents are everywhere. You can't escape them. Minimize them yes. But don't let it make you quit your career just because you think you may escape death. Guess what, YOUR GOING TO DIE!!!! Get over it and live with it. Go to church, take a walk, go fishing, do whatever to make your life all you can while you are here and FORGET ABOUT WORRYING RATHER YOU ARE GOING TO DIE BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU DO!!!!!
I am a firefighter/1st responder and hazmat technician. I scrape people up off the highway all the time who were probably more worried about dying of cancer than the car that just crossed over the center line and hit them head on.
Hey fred, guess what. I drink untreated water from a well everyday. I don't get diarrhea from it either. In fact, when I go to town and drink treated water is when I get sick.
We live in a society that is afraid of their own shadow. Yes, we have a lot of bad chemicals out there that can do some terrible stuff if released into the air or water or just dumped on the ground. And we need to take the necessary precautions to take care of those chemicals.
But, if you are going to worry about whether your job or career is going to give you cancer you had just as well stay home. Because even at home you are exposed every day to things that will supposedly cause cancer.
I remember back in the mid 80's when they came out and said that drinking milk caused certain types of cancer. In the late 90's they said that eating salads would cause certain types of cancer. A friend of mine sat down and studied the finding that were released, did the math, and realized that yes if he ate 2000 pounds a month of salad that according to the findings he might have a slightly elevated risk of getting cancer.
Call, me stupid for deciding to not listen everyday when I turn on the news and some new big find states that something I eat, drink, or otherwise use in everyday life is going to cause me to have cancer. I'm tired of listening to all the bull and am just going to live life everyday to the best of my ability to enjoy life.
It's way to short to sit around worrying about contracting cancer. My dad died 2 years ago from cancer so I know 1st hand about what cancer is about and how much of a toll it takes on not only the person who has it but those around them.
Am I stupid for deciding to enjoy my life instead of worrying about everything that goes bump in the night?
Maybe, but at least I'm having a good life while here on this old earth.
Fred, if you will read my previous post I stated that we need to take the necessary precautions to take care of the chemicals. I'm not stupid enough to just disregard the responsibility of taking care of the chemicals we use not to mention the legalities of taking care of the chemicals according to the law.
However, I believe the original poster asked about concerns of illness due to this profession. I am simply stating that if they are worried about this profession then they need to look at all the other things in life that we are around everyday that can kill us. Most much quicker than the long term effects of screenprinting for a living.
I worry much more about some methhead or drunk hitting me while driving than the long term effects of dying from screenprinting. The odds are much greater of being killed in a mva than from screenprinting.
If that makes me stupid, oh well. While you are worrying about every little thing that might harm you, I will just face it head on and take it like it comes. Will I get cancer? Probably, but I ain't going to worry about it or change my vocation for fear of it.
Call, me stupid for deciding to not listen everyday when I turn on the news and some new big find states that something I eat, drink, or otherwise use in everyday life is going to cause me to have cancer.
Screenprinting chemicals aren't salad leaves. It simply doesn't make sense to dismiss the risk of one as easily as the other. By all means ignore the media fear campaigns - but industrial waste isn't the same as "NEWS AT ELEVEN! FIVE THINGS IN YOUR KITCHEN SINK THAT ARE KILLING YOU!"
Harmful Long Term Effects of Printing. 
