Everyone on this forum should read this WARNING please...

[Mr. FancyPants]

I just learned tonight that my brother who has been a Volvo Speacialist for more than 35 years, at age 52, has just been diagnosed with "Multiple Myoloma" which is cancer of the blood.

It's chief cause is BENZENE which is found in gasoline, amongst many others.

My brother has just started Kemo, but will only be in remission. He is not expected to live beyond 2 to 5 years as a result.

Too much exposure to petro cleaning fluides over the lifetime as a mechanic is the most likely reason his doctors have given.

Please. please consider your health before dipping your hands in gasoline, or even diesel, or anything containing BENZENE........please!

[engatwork]

Thanks for the heads up Sarafin. What were his symptoms?

[Hatterasguy]

I hope your brother pulls threw! Many people have proved those doctors wrong. I think I will go out and buy a box of gloves and use them!

[Mr. FancyPants]

Originally Posted by engatwork

Thanks for the heads up Sarafin. What were his symptoms?

This all came on the last few weeks. His symptoms were weakness, extreme anemia, low to none vital blood cell counts.

It has totally put me in shock! I think of all the times he cleaned parts in whatever lay about, brake-clean, you name it!

He say's whatever contains benzene, and that covers a lot of stuff. I wonder if, or how much, benzene can be found in diesel.

All I can say is ware rubber gloves. Another note on that is that not all rubber gloves will protect you. The types that are effective with epoxy resins are the best, cant think right now what they're called but will be investigating more on this life threatening subject and will post what I can.......Steve

[oldnavy]

Originally Posted by sarafin

I just learned tonight that my brother who has been a Volvo Speacialist for more than 35 years, at age 52, has just been diagnosed with "Multiple Myoloma" which is cancer of the blood.

It's chief cause is BENZENE which is found in gasoline, amongst many others.

My brother has just started Kemo, but will only be in remission. He is not expected to live beyond 2 to 5 years as a result.

Too much exposure to petro cleaning fluides over the lifetime as a mechanic is the most likely reason his doctors have given.

Please. please consider your health before dipping your hands in gasoline, or even diesel, or anything containing BENZENE........please!

A real common health problem in auto repair industry, the big C in various forms. Only in the last decade was it realized there was more dangers then the asbestos brake dust in the auto repair shop. OSHA has for years be trying to get auto mechanic's to use some type of glove while working without sucess. I have more then one young friend that are mechanic's, that will not work with any kind of glove. The cancer rate among mechanic's with 20 to 30 years in the business is likened to the farmers of the early 70's to early 80's with 20 to 30 years farming, with high cancer rates from pertochemicial use and UV exposure. Only problem amoung farmers is the family also had high rate's also, most likely from the petrochemicals brought into house on clothes and from air drift into unairconditioned homes.

My thought's are with you and your brother, tell him for me I said for him to be positive and hopeful.

[MBwD]

Sorry to hear that. My hands have been dried out recently as I keep on having to clean and scrub my hands after working on my car. I've been meaning to start using gloves due to the dryness and also because oil, fuel and all the other junk is bad for you. But it always turns out that I hate using gloves because I like to really feel what I'm doing with my hands, like with screws, bolts, etc., and the gloves make it awkward.

If anyone can recommend a good kind of glove to use, disposable or not, I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one appreciative of it. I'm going to force myself to start using gloves sometime soon.

[oldnavy]

Originally Posted by MBwD

Sorry to hear that. My hands have been dried out recently as I keep on having to clean and scrub my hands after working on my car. I've been meaning to start using gloves due to the dryness and also because oil, fuel and all the other junk is bad for you. But it always turns out that I hate using gloves because I like to really feel what I'm doing with my hands, like with screws, bolts, etc., and the gloves make it awkward.

If anyone can recommend a good kind of glove to use, disposable or not, I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one appreciative of it. I'm going to force myself to start using gloves sometime soon.

Here's a link for mfg, you will have to find supplier cl;ose to you. Glove's

[psfred]

Very sorry to hear about your brother, multiply myeloma isn't a very good diagnosis.

Thankfully, the dangers of benzene (and toluene, xylenes and similar chemicals) is well known now, and the amount of benzene in common solvents and gasoline has been greatly reduced in recent years. That won't help someone who has been washing his hands in gasoline for the last three decades, sadly, but it will help the rest of us.

Use nitrile gloves, they give the best resistand to organic solvens, although that isn't all that much. You should avoid skin contact with any solvent, and avoid breathing any more vapor than absolutely necessary.

Peter

[Mr. FancyPants]

Thank you OldNavy... Nitrile was exactly the name I was trying to remember!

It is important to note that most all other types of rubber, and latex, type exam gloves ABSOLUTELY DO NOT protect you from petrochemicals leaching through the glove and into your skin!

The Nitriles are the only one's I know of currently that provide an effective seal against intrusion.

[phantoms]

I'm one of those mechanics that has a hard time wearing gloves. In the winter I'll sometimes where mechanics gloves but find myself always taking them off because they get in the way.

But it's not just chemicals and fumes, mechanics constantly get cuts, bruises, burns, etc. It's just to easy no matter how careful you are. I find it amazing that it's not much worse than it is. I think overall we are a very safety conscious bunch. However, chemicals, vapors and fumes are things that you don't see immediate damage from and so many times you overlook them. I wish your brother the best of luck and hope he does prove the doctors wrong. The mind is a powerful thing and sometimes your state of mind can overcome the impossible.

[vwbuge]

A friend of the family was diagnosed with the same thing 15 years ago. He recently passed this spring. Determination is the key. When he was first diagnosed he was told the 3-5 year thing. He said bull**** and walked out. He did the chemo thing and lived life like he wanted. He made it way longer than the doctors said he would.

Cancer is a funny thing. It is hard to really pinpoint how much genetics and or exposure has to do with getting cancer. It is a scary thing!

[RunningTooHot]

I hope that he pulls through & makes a full recovery - you never know!

Disposable nitrile gloves are excellent – they not only provide more protection than latex, they also stretch & give a bit as you wear them, making them more comfortable. FYI, a good source of disposable nitrile gloves is through Harbor Freight Tools.

[JimmyL]

Steve,
Very sorry to hear of your brother's diagnosis. Medicine has come a long way with cancer, and I'm one of those that believes that prayer helps too.
I have worked in latex gloves for years, and you can get used to them. It can be difficult to start screws sometimes, and getting e-rings in place, but all in all it's actually not bad. You have to get past the "I get my hands dirty for a living" macho side that many people have, but there's a lot to be said for just cleaning off the talcom powder from your hands, and not all the grease, oil, diesel, whatever....
I hope for the best for your brother,
Jimmy L

[Tirebiter]

I often think about the mechanics at White Motor Company in Dallas waiting until you got the clutch disks pulled out of an 18 wheeler. Then they would stick an air hose into the bell housing and blow asbestos dust all over you. It litterally covered all exposed skin with black dust. When it happened the only thing you could do was hold your breath until you got out from under the truck, take a shower, and change clothes.

I was only seventeen but I did let them all know I didn't think it was funny. Just about everyone got it once. The shop foreman pointed out that he lost a mechanic for 45 minutes while he cleaned himself up.

One guy did it again. Probably just to establish a pecking order. So I pumped thirty gallons of fiberglass resin into his tool boxes with enough MEK to make it smoke while curing.

He was in the process of beating me to death when the other mechanics stopped him. Took him days to chip loose the tools he could save

I am surprised my grandfather is still alive from all the weekend wrenching he has been doing since the mid 1930s . From washing his hands with the gasoline, which he still does to this day . His hands look like horribly dried out and cracked...