Just a safety warning to all of you using denatured alcohol for cleaning parts. Depending on the brand you use, Denatured alcohol can contain up to 75% Methanol, which in large enough exposure via skin contact inhalation or ingestion, can cause blindness, loss of concentration or cognitive function, gastrointestinal distress, coma and death. I spent the last two days in the hospital for neurological and gastrointestinal issues that appear to have resulted from elevated levels of ethylene glycol and Methanol in my blood. I began having blurry vision and lightheadedness, along with visual artifacts and the inability to focus or think clearly so I went to the ER because that is not typical for me. Upon my admission to using potentially harmful chemicals poison control was contacted and blood tests were taken. My ethylene glycol and methanol levels were above the standard safe margin and are determined to have been the cause of my neurological issues. I also have acute pancreatitis which is typically something heavy alcohol drinkers get, and I never drink.
I will say that I may not have been handling these chemicals as safely as I should have, at times cleaning tools barehanded with denatured alcohol and sometimes even dunking my bare hands in the vats to clean when I was too lazy to put on my gloves. I also work out of a small room with only one window and it is inhalation that is thought to be the main means of ingestion in my case due to the fact that methanol evaporates too quickly to really be absorbed through the skin in large amounts (unless your dunking your hands in it).
I'm not trying to scare people from using denatured alcohol as it is a very effective and useful chemical for processing resin prints, and when handled correctly is virtually harmless, but I want to strain the need for safe handling. Make sure you are absolutely getting enough ventilation, and that your skin has as little contact with the chemicals as possible. Make sure that if you think your gloves have a hole, that you swap them for a new undamaged pair so that the chemicals do not soak into your skin inside the gloves, especially if you have open wounds as they absorb much easier through broken flesh.
I spent nearly a week, up to 6 hours a day working with these chemicals in this fashion, and I definitely would not say what happened to me is typical, but considering I am an extremely healthy individual and I was so affected by this, I just want to make sure everyone is being safe while enjoying their hobby and businesses.
Edit: To further clarify, my gastrointestinal issues were a result of Acute Pancreatitis.
Here is the Safety Data Sheet for the brand I use:
https://korellis.com/…/uploads/2016/05/Alcohol-Denatured.pdf
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