"Half face respirator" - what about eye protection?

[bpbuilder]

So I was close to purchasing a 3m 7500 series respirator as an upgrade from disposables.

PPE Safety Solutions : Safety Product Catalog from 3M Australia:Â3Mâ„¢ Reusable Half Face Respirator 7500 Series

But I'm now wondering about eye protection. I've typically used disposables as I mentioned, and a face shield over top. While protecting the lungs is obviously important, what about dust as an irritant to the eyes?

So my question in relation to dust - does anyone suggest using sealed eye protection with their respirator or a full face respirator and why would/should our eyes be less important? Even with a face shield there's still quite an amount that gets in behind the mask, certainly easily seen when cleaning the inside of it periodically.

[BobL]

The best thing for dust protection is a decent dust extractor.
PPE like masks and sealed eye protection should only be used as a last resort after appropriate engineering solutions like dust extraction have been implemented.

The eyes and lungs are only half the problem. The problem with wood working is the fine dust permeates everywhere -armpits. groin etc and wood allergies can be developed by repeated skin contact and getting the dust all over your hair and clothes and skin continues to expose you unless you leave any mask and goggles on and immediately take a shower and wash your clothing.

I have done some dust particle testing while turning (one of THE dustiest woodworking activities) and although there are visible chips flying all over the place my dust collector removes all the fine dust and I am breathing what is effectively outside air.

None of this negates the need for eye/head protection while turning but instead of having to wear a claustrophobic mask an sealed eye wear I can wear a comfortable full visibility face shield. I like the Armadillo shield and have 4 of these (car, menaced, and two for my own shed).

[Bendigo Bob]

Yeah bp, wish I could afford one of those Trend powered full face masks, but at around $600 that's way out of my reach now. A few weeks ago i turned some Huon pine, followed by sanding some SS Oak and broke out in a rash around the eyes, ears, groin, etc, just as bobl says. (Checked the Wood Database, and yep, both are irritants to eyes and skin)

Spent rest of the week shifting stuff around to get the lathe near to the dust extractor and am now making a shroud for that, to at least try to catch that sanding dust. Made a sanding down draft table also to run off the DE. Just doing the things I can with what I've got. I have got one of those half face respirators too, different brand, but highly recommend them as it is so much better breathing than the paper ones.

As Bob says, the skin contact is important, washing and even showering after certain tasks is a must.

[BobL]

Yeah bp, wish I could afford one of those Trend powered full face masks, but at around $600 that's way out of my reach now. .

And if you had $600 to spend I would not buy one - put it towards upgrading your dust extraction system.

[Bendigo Bob]

Spot on Bob. $300 can just about buy a shop air cleaner/filtration system.
$600 can go a long way to updating the DE to a decent size.
I'm thinking of shifting my DE outside the shop. I reckon for under $100 i can scrounge up the parts for a little shelter for it. It hasn't got a proper filter on it, just a bag. reckon that's better off NOT in the shop.

Just keep doing the things we can do goes a long way

[bpbuilder]

Thanks for the replies. I definitely understand, numerous people I know have developed reactions to timber through skin contact.

I’m a bit cautious, perhaps too much so. IMO if spending $600 if it means I can prevent long terms health effects is money well spent. I have a decent DE which filters down to 0.5 microns, and an air purifier, but from my experience even the best ones still don’t collect 100% of the fines particularly while turning/sanding, so I typically wear a mask underneath my shield as a minimum. I work a lot with exotics and the majority is turning, hence the cautious approach.