I don't agree. The risks still arent worth it. More and more people are getting cancer nowadays and avoiding all toxins no matter the duration or concentration is a good idea. I agree worrying is not good. My dad literaly gets upset if we leave a few crumbs on the counter. I agree with you in this sense. But were talking about our bodies, and introducing man made toxins to them is not a good idea no matter what. Its not just WMO that's giving you cancer, its everything daily which is why you need to limit your exposure to all toxins. IMO exposing yourself to chemicals which are proven to damage DNA is never ever a good idea. I always wear gloves now but for the longest time I didnt. I began to notice that the skin on my 19 year old hands looks worse than the skin on my 30 year old brothers hands. Im beginning to think its just not good for your skin in general. I also got sick of people thinking I was a dirty person becuase my fingers are literaly stained black. Gloves are cheap. Put em on, get all greasy, take em off and your hands are 100% clean. That's a good enough reason right there.

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1981 300SD 512k OM603

There is a study out that says the mere thinking of the study can cause cancer.


One thing I have had good luck with, that has not been listed already, is scrubbing bubbles. Ya, the spray stuff used to clean sinks etc. spray it on and rub it in, then wash it of with the good old bar soap at the sink.

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83 300SD Dark Silver Dark brown inside

I disagree with the whole philosophy. Sure, chronic exposure to toxins causes cancer. However, I don't believe that tiny, incidental exposures have an appreciable impact - either individually or cumulatively.

We all know that smoking is bad for your health and causes lung cancer. No denying it. And there have been studies showing that people living in an environment with HEAVY smokers - a.k.a. living with a chain smoker - and receive chronic second hand smoke exposure - have a slight increase in their risk of lung cancer, and other respiratory illness. Every new study that comes out on the subject the media trumpets the headline that "SECOND HAND SMOKE CAUSES CANCER"! without putting it into perspective. So now people get the idea that if they catch one whiff of second hand smoke from my cigar their risk of lung cancer is dramatically increased. Therefore I'm a terrible person and should be treated as a criminal for putting others at risk. What a bunch of garbage!

Look, you change your oil what, 3 to 6 times a year? And you get what, a fraction of an ounce actually in contact with your skin? For how long, a half hour, to a couple of hours max? Come on! Think about it! Is that a risk worth worrying about? If so, you better not cross the street, because your risk of getting hit by a car is thousands of times higher than your risk of getting skin cancer from exposure to dirty oil.

Benzine is one of the worst carcinogens known to man. It is on the EPAs 200 most toxic substances list. Yet professional mechanics get it on their hands just about every day because ordinary gasoline contains roughly 13% benzine. Yet you don't see hundreds and thousands of mechanics whose hands are covered in skin cancers because of it. You don't see any news stories or studies showing that it is an issue - because it isn't! But its a risk! Better wear a respirator when you pump gas in your car!

This kind of stuff has to be kept in perspective. What if they come out with a study next month that says sweaty skin contact with nitrile causes skin cancer - but only if you wear the gloves 24 x 7 x 365 for 10 years straight? Would you stop wearing the gloves? Personally I don't wear gloves because 1) they don't hold up - every little snag and they tear or split and 2) gloves heavy enough to hold up are so thick that they reduce tactile feel and agility and 3) sweaty rubber gloves are uncomfortable.

As for your hands looking older than your brothers, if he doesn't work on cars and you do, then that is to be expected. Anything that will take the motor oil off of your skin will also take the natural oils out of your skin. Anything that dries your skin is going to cause it to look older. Like any other tool, your hands will look older and more "worn" if you actually use them to do hard work, than if you don't. That doesn't mean they're going to get cancer and rot off though.

IMO, you simply can't live your whole life worried about and trying to dodge every minute "boogie man" of risk. Well, actually you can, but would you really be living? Not in my book! And even if you do, you still aren't going to succeed because some risks are unavoidable. Sugar causes cavities - known and proven fact - but cake and candy taste good enough that we eat them anyway. Likewise, living causes death, but I'm not going fret and worry and try to isolate and insulate myself from every thing that someone says has some percieved - or even real but minute - risk attached, because doing so wouldn't be much better than being dead anyway. I simply refuse to play that game. Life isn't a competition to see who can end up with the most pristine corpse at the end. Its for LIVING, and I want what is left of me at the end to be as worn out and used up as possible - from really living - not from being afraid of every thing.

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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel
Silver blue paint over navy blue interior
2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise
99% original unmolested car
~210k miles on the clock

1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab
Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior
Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion
152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown

The sweaty hands that instantly result from wearing gloves have permanently convinced me that I'd rather just clean my hands after a job than attempt to work while wearing gloves. Not to mention the loss of tactile sense no matter what you're working on.

The worst of the stuff usually is taken off by the kerosene in our parts washer if I happen to clean something up. Then I use whatever dish soap we've got (extensively) and just physically rub the rest off onto a dish towel or shop towel. The rest wears off in under a day.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

Acetone

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1981 300TD "The Green Lantern"
1980 300TD
1983 300D Euro "China Cat"

Don't feel bad, the whole time I was in high school I worked at my family's machine shop part time. Every day we would all wash our hands in the trichloroethylene that was used for cleaning/degreasing parts. I remember splashing it in my eyes, etc.

WHAT? And you haven't all died of cancer yet? LOL!

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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel
Silver blue paint over navy blue interior
2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise
99% original unmolested car
~210k miles on the clock

1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab
Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior
Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion
152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown

I use kerosene just pun some allover your arm and rub it around until the grease/oil is more liquefied and then you can rub some soap on that and wash it under running water off in a second
you can also use thinner in the place of kerosene or petrol its completely safe and I've tried it every time I work on my dad's car and it works well with no irritations or whatever

Jeremy Brett

Actually, I come in contact with automotive grease heavily about 3 days a week. Often times my hands are literaly painted black with grease. Its not just about skins cancer, things soak into skin very easily. Your skin wasn't designed as a barrier against industrial oils and solvents. Whatever you get on your skins goes into your blood stream.

General construction IS hard work with your hands. My father did it for 25 years and his hands are torn up bad.

As for the skin oil argument, anytime you use soap your removing the surface oil off your skin. I do agree though that vigorous scrubbing is a different thing though.


Im more worried about getting skin cancer from the sun than I am from motor oil. But I also don't want to die in my 40's from a brain tumor.


It is really a lost cause though. Carcinogens are everywhere. Imagine the dose your getting when you sit in stop and go traffic. Or get in a new car with off-gassing plastic. Or drink a diet soda or any modern day processed food or showering in hot water that's fuming chlorine dioxide

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1981 300SD 512k OM603

Not yet, but my dad died of liver cancer in his 60s.

I'm not overly cautious, but there is no need to unnecessarily expose yourself to carcinogens.

Hey everyone, I think I figured out what works 99.99%

I was replacing my oil cooler lines on my 220D and it was very messy and got black gold all over my arms and pretty much all over (I was wearing gloves)... I normally use dishsoap and the spots fade but don't go 100% away...

I decided they needed to come off now though because I don't want to look all nasty for the So Cal GTG tomorrow.. So I used "Joy Ultra Concentrated Dishwashing liquid" and what looks like a horse hair scrubbing brush.. It worked like a charm and took EVERYTHING off and I didn't even have to scrub hard... I say 99.99% because it didn't take it out between the lines on the tips on my fingers but it took off everything else with ease...

It worked perfectly for me and it looks like i've never been exposed to diesel oil before.. Awesome

And no I didn't need to use that much of the bottle, everyone had used it already for dishes lol

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2007 BMW 328XI

We had all this is a previous thread recently.

Use any grease which will dissolve the diesel then wash the mix with Dawn or some other degreaser for dishes.

I have used Pam, Wesson oil, hell, even margarine works! The diesel takes to it, dissolves the stuff, you wipe it off your hands with a paper towel, then wash normally.

If you smell like anything, it will be the margarine.

Then all the cute chubby girls will talk to you at the next GTG, lol.

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Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

I thought diesel fuel and waste oil were only labeled as known carcinogens in Kalifornia? They seem so progressive out there on the left coast.

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Phil
Previously loved
variety, but I miss the 99 F350 PSD- 37k, traded, damn

Current stable
98 E-300 TurboDiesel, 253k
http://www.facebook.com/people/Philip-Underwood/762882374