so, how dangerous is MDF?

I think mdf is the asbestos of the future, i now sweat my bollx off wearing a mask to avoid breathing it in (or reducing it at least)
It's bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

i now sweat my bollx off wearing a mask

You are meant to put the mask on your face not wear it as a cod piece!!

Jason

 

ha ha, nice 1 jasonb

 

a guy got killed last year in a workhop not far from me beacause 5 sheets fell on him. He would still be here if it were 5 sheets of dust

 

in all seriousness wearing a mask isnt gunna hurt is it and i know its a pain when its ******* it down outside and you have to cut indoors but if you work in a work shop surely you have an extractor

lee

 

Dont underestimate the hazards of using MDF. The glue that is used to bond the fibres together with MDF are formaldehyde based and harmful to the respitory system and may even cause cancer with prolonged exposier.
Even when bare MDF has been machined resinous dust is still released gradualy until it has been painted or treated.
Even some timber merchants dont like cutting it for this reason and MDF is banned in some countries.

 

There are guide lines on how much formaldehyde is used in mdf but it is always best to use a mask & seal all the mdf because formaldehyde is always being released from untreated board

 

"not wear it as a cod piece"

yeah you should see the look on the faces of the old dears i work for when i change the filter

but seriously, when you cut timber the dust is usually larger particles so gets stuck up ya nose, not nice but not fully inhaled.
mdf dust is so fine it gets beyond your snout and is fully inhaled into your lungs........... bad times

 

Our lungs are designed for breathing in air - not dust. If we inhale lungfuls of dust with our air it can only be bad for the health of our lungs. I don't think it really matters what sort of dust it is - be it mdf which is essentially timber fibres, asbestos fibres, coal dust, or concrete. It is prolonged exposure to any of these over a period of time that creates the problem - that is why people in certain jobs historically are prone to certain diseases.

We all breath in small amounts of dust every time we breath because the air around us contains dust of various types. Our lungs can deal with this kind of background dust (like background radiation). It is the prolongued exposure over a lengthy period that results in the long term health problems.

 

I also think that mdf will be the asbestos of the future.

 

It's not just the toxic dust, MDF slowly releases formaldehyde all through it's life - poisoning the air around it.

 

Horrible stuff, I avoid it wherever possible.

 

Captain,

You must be my alter ego. I agree with most things you say

I hate the sight of the bleeding stuff and the sooner it gets BANNED the better.

How long before people realise that timbe really is a superior product?

 

mdf skirting is a doddle though
its easy to work with

lee

 

MDF being banned in other countries is an urban myth. Nowhere has banned it. I work with oak the dust from that is a lot more dangerous than mdf

 

MDF being banned in other countries is an urban myth.
Nowhere has banned it. I work with oak the dust from
that is a lot more dangerous than mdf

I have heard this before, is it something to do with acid in oak and is that why you shouldn't use steel screws with oak beacus it rots them?

 

the joinery shop where i used to work they used to burn the off cuts of timber mainly oak for the furnace to heat the shop,the very fine oak and iroco dust would go off like a bomb when a shovel full thrown in the furnace,shame the idiots never told the new apprentice when he was filling it cause it could have took his eyebrows off.

 

Thought it was also to do with the size of the dust. Generally if it's 'big' in dust terms it gets stuck up your nose - no problem. If it's very small, it goes into lungs and back out - no problem. But if it in between (I think between 3 and 15 micron) it goes into lungs, and gets stuck. Problem

 

> I think that mdf will be the asbestos of the
future.

I don't think so, I've recently replaced my old asbestos garage roof with a new mdf one and it's looking soggy and swollen already

Perhaps I should have felted it?