C.A. accelerator causes cancer !

[Len Biglin]

Hi again guys , I have just noticed the warning on my accelerator , that calif. has found it to cause cancer and birth defects ! I have been using it daily for years , is there a safe type ? Mine is Z*P brand .

[Ned Knepp]

Phil,

Torres did good work, and there is nothing wrong with using simple hand tools to build instruments today but there isn't really a compelling reason to only use those tools now except, perhaps, the satisfaction one may feel in having done so. If you choose to work that way my hat is off to you but please don't look down upon the rest of us if we choose not to follow your example. 

I've had reactions to wood dust too so I DO understand. Besides that, I'm married to a lady that spent many years as a trauma nurse in one of the largest ER's in the Greater LA area. She's paranoid about safety since she's pretty much seen everything.

Again, you appear to be missing the idea that there is a middle ground in this subject.  We really do understand and we really do take precautions. We don't feel a need to stop using every chemical that has a safety label on it.   

I can appreciate that you have had some bad experiences and I can understand why you would stop working because of the scare.  While it's regrettable and I have sympathy, it's not a reason for me to stop using a product because it possibly has bad side effects. I take precautions and I believe that I'm at least as safe using those product as I am pumping gasoline, which is also extremely dangerous.

 If I stopped using everything that might not be good for me or might cause a reaction of some sort, I'd couldn't do much at all. 

[Thomas James]

Guitars should have a whole lot of life warning labels!

Seriously though, I try to avoid as much chemical contact as I can. The CA Accelerator does have a nasty odor. I try to avoid using it, and never use a spray bottle. It may be my imagination, but it seems a little moisture slightly 'kicks' CA??

side note: For a while, a Nail Salon was located next to my shop. Everyday the place was absolutely filled with lacquer and acetone fumes. I was stunned that they had zero air filtration. I never thought about how much exposure some woman have to these chemicals. Wearing it on their bodies 24/7.

[Dave Yelverton]

Just as a small rider, it seems that no authorities regard acetone as carcinogenic and this is borne out in this Wiki article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetone

Nonetheless I wouldn't want to breathe it constantly.

However we seem to have given up on a solvents of lower toxicity than those in current use. At one time amyl acetate was the solvent for nitrocellulose. In the British aircraft industry during the war, workers applying dope to the fabric covering of aircraft used very little protection, but were given an extra ration of milk to help them overcome the sleepiness it caused. Amyl acetate occurs naturally and is used as a food additive to carefully prescribed limits.! I dare say expense is one of the main reasons we have moved to solvents which are highly toxic.  Pity, I like the smell of pear drops!

[LARRY KLOSE]

Related practical question: can acetone be used in the vicinity of nitro lacquer or will it act like thinner in softening it?

Larry 

[Russell Vance]

Some of the nitro sprayers use acetone as thinners in nitro - I use acetone to strip back nitro in some repair situations - the answer is: don't have acetone on the same bench as anything finished in nitro.  

Acetone also makes good nailpolish remover -  and, no I don't use it personally. R.

[Paul Young]

Don't inhale it, especially if it's marijuana.

[Robbie Collins]

Party Pooper! ;-)

[Phil Jackson]

I appreciate your view, Ned.  I probably take wild chances in other spheres of activity, and think nothing of it.  To be quite honest, I love lutherie so much that I would probably risk my health to do it IF I HAD TO.  My thing is that we should try to steer the younger generation AWAY from chemicals.  Why can't we?  That will probably never happen though.  Torres & Martin probably would have used proven-dangerous chemicals.  It's human nature.   

[Ned Knepp]

I understand Phil.  What I've done with my kids is teach them that chemicals should be respected. It doesn't really matter what it is, enough of it can be a problem. As far as the chems. I use for my hobby, I taught them to leave them alone unless and until they actually need to use them. they are not something to leave "out" and they are not something to take for granted. 

Two of the member of my house hold are very sensitive to petroleum based products in the air. If I use one of them I make sure that I change clothing and wash well when I return to the house. We don't have to avoid them completely but we do have to manage them. 

[Phil Jackson]

Good man.