Toronto Yard and Garden

Introduction The p95 respirator or “painting respirator” is recommended for “relief against nuisance levels of organic vapors. Nuisance level organic vapor refers to concentrations not exceeding… exposure limits” [1]. The purpose of this article is to discuss their application in the painting context.  Usage Fitting instructions are similar to those of an N95 and apply a similar fit test: “To check fit, place both hands completely over the respirator and inhale sharply (Fig.

Introduction  N95 respirators “are examples of personal protective equipment that are used to protect the wearer from particles or from liquid contaminating the face” [1]. Also, “Most N95 respirators are manufactured for use in construction and other industrial type jobs that expose workers to dust and small particles. They are regulated by the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), whic

Introduction The Safety Data Sheet or SDS is, to people like myself, the only reliable way to determine a paint product’s safety information (paint advertising isn't reliable) . As I was doing research for Parts one , two , three , and four of an article series designed to make a determination about safe paints, I found a discrepancy amongst SDSs that I’d like to share in this post. The purpose of this will be to focus attention on deceptive advertising. Most of the work here

Introduction When it comes to deciding on a paint, one common consideration is health. Part 1 introduced the concept of paint safety; Part 2 reviewed a paint product from Behr, and Part 3 reviewed a Glidden product in terms of health impacts. I found that both had potential carcinogens. In this blog post (part 4), I will now consider a commonly advertised “safe” paint from ECOS. This blog will compare all three paints in terms of health impacts and then I’ll make a final c

Introduction When it comes to deciding on a paint, one common consideration is health. Part 2 looked at the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for one paint from a popular paint brand - Behr. This blog post will deal with a review of a paint brand from another popular competitor - Glidden. I will consider important elements of the SDS for a Glidden paint product and then make some comparisons to Behr. In part 4, I will be comparing both Behr and Glidden paint products to a marketed “hea

When it comes to determining which paint you should use, the only tool that I’m familiar with is the Safety Data Sheet (SDS). Can we trust SDSs? Well, they are made available on the same websites that paint-selling companies use to sell their products, so one would expect a conflict of interest. Nonetheless, the information that they provide can be analyzed and used to draw certain conclusions. For this analysis, I’ll be reviewing one paint from Behr. In Part 3 & Part 4 , I’

The purpose of this two-part blog post is to try to answer the question, "is it possible to find a safe paint to paint my home with?" At this point, it's fairly well known that lead is a toxic compound with various links to poor health outcomes. Gamboa et al (2022) writes that "exposure to lead-based paint in homes constructed prior to 1978 poses multiple hazards to children, usually via inhalation of lead dust, ingestion of lead paint chips, or both." Lead was a common paint

p100 respirators are (in my opinion) an essential tool for any painter. Sanding activity can sometimes produce large amounts of dust, which is toxic to breathe. Pressure-treated decking may contain arsenic (https://www.finegardening.com/article/does-pressure-treated-wood-belong-in-your-garden#:~:text=In%20the%20pressure%2Dtreating%20process,carried%20deep%20into%20the%20wood), which you probably don't want to be breathing while you sand the deck before staining. Sanding dryw