Building tip: CA cement and eye irritation

be careful when spinning the tip of the top of the bottle of thin ca, it likes to shoot glue out when the nozzle is snipped. i glued my eye shut once because of this

yah, superglue and eyeballs don't mix.

Was glueing in the window panels in my orginal Eagle II and had dribbled some down into the open gap, I set the bottle down, squeezed a bit harder on the panel to snap it into place,,,SNAP!. As I was looking straight down at it, the excess glue flung right into my eyes and promply tried to glue them shut. I let out a girlie scream and used my fingers to peel them back open, as soon as I let go and blinked,,they glued shut again. Off to the emegrency room where all they can do is peel them open and irrigate them with VERY COLD saline solution and have you blink as much as possible. It feels like sand in your eyes every time you blink and it is a very unconfortable several days until the hardened CA finally lets go and falls loose.

Wear saftey glasses when using CA,,I always do now.

Rusty's mention of possible CA fume damage to eyegllasses coatings never dawned on me.

Keith's experience with CA certainly should a warning to CA users too.

Thanks to both of you guys for sharing your experiences.

An alternative is to use odorless foam safe CA. If you need an instant bond, you can get some some CA accelerator.

dont use ca glue, next to the laptop. somehow i managed to glue down the "u" key, so i had to get a new keyboard

HI all
As a nurse I have run into several guys with CA respiratory sensivity or allergies. Epoxy can also have the same problems. Ventilation is the key.
I use the long teflon tubes to apply CA and have discovered the tube can flip tiny dropplets of ca. I have a couple of CA specs on my glasses now. Can be removed with Acetone but I doubt ANY of the coating would remain after that
I am due for new glasses I will keep my old pair in the shop. I NEED all the help I can get with vision for flying these days. Wanna keep the new ones claer as long as possible.

Also IMPORTANT!

Do not heat up CA! it makes cyanide! Ive had to be rushed to the hospital due to this. Never heat up even a glued joint. wet or dry, just dont do it!

shell shock wrote:Also IMPORTANT!

Do not heat up CA! it makes cyanide! Ive had to be rushed to the hospital due to this. Never heat up even a glued joint. wet or dry, just dont do it!

thats gonna make covering with a 200 degree iron harder lol

covering is fine, its when you heat it up, like direct contact or prolonged heat. Sorry, didnt mean to scare you...

An example of this would be to try and solder a brass rod coated in CA

shell shock wrote:covering is fine, its when you heat it up, like direct contact or prolonged heat. Sorry, didnt mean to scare you...

An example of this would be to try and solder a brass rod coated in CA

dont worry i did not get scarred to bad lol

good, now, get er done! ^_^

CA when kicked burns like the dickens when it's on your fingers.

As a further note regarding CA cement NO ONE should use it unless they have debonder or solvent available on their workbench. Acetone does a fair job but it burns sensitive tissues like eyes.

cribbs74 wrote:CA when kicked burns like the dickens when it's on your fingers.

Been there, done that.

cribbs74 wrote:CA when kicked burns like the dickens when it's on your fingers.

It also gets hot when you glue your shorts to your leg and your tongue to your lower lip. So I've heard.

Gee, if it just gave you lung cancer, this stuff would be perfect...

ahrima:

This calls for federal investigation to protect us from the menaces of CA! Add it to the growing list along with nitro fuel.

PV Pilot wrote:yah, superglue and eyeballs don't mix.

I almost fell out of my chair when I read that.

Matt:

Superglue (CA) in the eyeballs would give you a "fixed stare"!

andrew wrote:

cribbs74 wrote:CA when kicked burns like the dickens when it's on your fingers.

It also gets hot when you glue your shorts to your leg and your tongue to your lower lip. So I've heard.

That would have been a funny sight to see!

microflitedude wrote:

PV Pilot wrote:yah, superglue and eyeballs don't mix.

I almost fell out of my chair when I read that.

I did when it happened,. Jumped up and bonked my bald noggin on the nuclear hot arm light, which in turn wheeled me back on my heels, and tumbled over the hobby stool. The klutz factor kicked in and I had no control.

It felt like someone threw a handful of sand as hard as they could right in my eyes

I reality joke there, but it was no joke at the time, lemme tell ya. You only get one set of eyes,,protect as much as possible.

The best way to reduce irritation by cyano is to keep the work area well ventillated....as it should say on the bottles! , ( aeromodellers have more of the ca fume problem, i think its more down to the balsa dust!, dust allergy!)

But...another way is to increase room humidity, have a saucer of hot water nearby the work area, this increases the speed of cure of the cyano , but also means the ca vapour cures closer to the bond line , the dust is heavier due to more moisture on it and it falls down so doesnt float upwards to irritate the mucous membranes, it is only irritation...., allergies with ca are virtually impossible due to the molecule being too large to enter the body triggering a histamine reaction , it can irritate or bring on asthma though

If the vapours get too strong , over a period of time it will irritate the mucous membranes ( eyes, nose, sinuses etc ) , in realy bad cases the symptoms can get worse..... blocked sinuses can give very bad headache, dizzyness , fuzzy vision etc.

In general cyano is the safest of all adhesives used for modeling! ,cyano is non toxic, the toxic ones are polyurethane glues epoxy resins, polyester resins, in my opinion the worst is the polyurethane foaming types ( very high odourless vapour, very toxic vapour )

PVA isnt good either ! , until very recently cheap pva glues were filled with low cost plasticisers that cause genetic abnormalities, male sterility , heritable genetic damage etc

Used carefully all adhesives sold to the public are quite safe to use , everythinbg these days needs to be registered and made from chemicals with known hazards that have been registered for the use they are being used for , just read the label and follow the directions

plus 1

Excellent summation of the thread with scientific facts in support of the need to be respectful of the problems caused by the misuse of adhesives. The provided adhesive precautions should be followed diligently, even at that, elements of risk are present.