Respirators for painting

[mattmctree@gmail.com]

I 've been reading a lot of the msds sheets for welding fumes as well as paint and they say to use a positive pressure air respirator. Do they mean a air Pac like firefighter use or one that's filters and scrubs the air. What does everyone use if any. I'm going to be working in a small shop and want to be properly protected form all the chemicals etc.

[Pinto2424]

Positive pressure...you are receiving an air flow, and it is pushing air and nasties away from you so nothing can enter. If you hold the trigger on an air compressor, you are creating positive pressure. Once you let go of the trigger, you allow nasties to approach the opening. A fireman self contained breathing kit is positive air flow. Hope this helps. Be safe!

[Pinto2424]

Let me add this...for a paint booth, you might be okay with a standard mask that filters harmful content, as long as you have a well ventilated area as the nasties can freely escape the work place...like a fan blowing outwards...o the outside, like in a window...thus creating somewhat of a positive pressure but you are still within the pressure area...this might be more like a decent ventilation system and your mask protects you from any lingering stuff in the air.

Positive pressure, bad stuff is pushed away and escapes.

Negative pressure, bad stuff is contained inside, not allowed to escape.

[mdawg4x4]

Back in the 80s when I was working in a body shop, I used lacquers, enamels, acrylic enamels w/activators, and poly urethanes with activators using only a charcoal respirator. Whole suit supplied respirators were just starting to come out, but we didn't have any. Painting a without a hat, my hair would fall out after when taking a shower. That is when I realized chemical exposure was not good. We didn't have a high tech temperature controlled spray booth. We heated it up in the winter then turned the heat off long enough to spray the vehicle, then turned the heater back on when the fumes were gone. In the summer, everything was baked on. NO AC!
I read the label on the back of a can of poly urethane activator one day and it talked about isocyanates and exposure causing loss of sight. That reminded me of the Union Carbide chemical plant in Bhopal India that blew up in 1984. Not good. That is when I started wearing a long sleeve coveralls and a hat when painting.

Thinking back, maybe I can blame everything on exposure!!!

[mattmctree@gmail.com]

Does anyone know of a decent positive pressure respirator set up? I hoping nor to break the bank