Any time you work with the dry ingredients you should wear a mask. I wear one from the time I open the bags of dry ingredients until they are completely mixed with water. You can cause damage to your throat and lungs little by little over a period of time. I've been doing this for 20 years now. Get yourself a decent respirator not one of those paper masks, your lungs are worth it. Billie

LOL

Yeah, I agree. I mixed about 60 gallons (a full 94 lb bag of cement) with the usual vermiculite, sand and peat. It took several trips to the mixer (which I just baught).

The wind was kind of blowing stuff away, but I did stand over the bags while pouring.

To make matters worse, when cleaning up and bringing the bag of cement inside, a whole about 3 inches in diameter opened up at the bottom and spilled cement all over my garage. After sweeping my throat was a bit raspy.

I just hope I didn't cross out 10 yrs of my lifespan this weekend. I've searched high and low for data on exposure amounts and their relevant risk factors, but found nothing.

I do have one of those cheap masks, but after looking for it for a while, I just had one of those "I'm immortal" states of mind.

Well, let's try again. I wrote a long answer, hit Preview Message, and it completely disappeared!!!
Anyway, I hope you'll be OK, since I did worse than you. Started leaf casting last summer, it had no warnings on the bag, so I figured it was safe, until I researched it further (about 2 months later!). Oops. I was outside and tried not to breathe it in, still I'm sure I inhaled some.

Although I'm far from being a doctor, I believe you normally would have to do that for quite some time before it's too dangerous. I'm thinking that because my husband used to work in a dental supply place, some people there developed Silicosis, but they were the ones who worked with the powders for many years and didn't wear the masks they were supposed to. So I'm hoping we both know better now and dodged a bullet! :)

amsoniared, No two lungs are created equal, some people are more susceptible than others. Always wear a mask. The same thing applies when handling your mix. Some peoples skin is more sensitive than others so you should always wear gloves.
How did your leaves turn out? Billie

It takes years of exposure to develop serious silicosis. You still should be religous about wearing a good comfortable respirator like a 3M 6200 when particulate inhalation is an issue.

Thanks all for your help

From the information I have gathered, it takes a lot more than the exposure I endured that weekend to develop silicosis. I spoke with a fellow from NIOSH and he concurred. Nonetheless, a NIOSH/OSHA approved respirator must always be used. I don't think it is a matter of whether or not your lungs are damaged, but more of how much, and how much damage is required to develop silicosis.

I now feel safe enough to not go through the next few years expecting to have my life cut short :-)

Now to my next goal: Drive slower LOL

Billie Ann,

Oh no, I meant I am definitely wearing a mask NOW! :)

To add to what you were saying- yes, I also discovered that some people could develop a skin allergy to the stuff,and it can even BURN some sensitive skins, so the skin should always be protected. I wear surgical gloves when I'm doing the leaves.

My leaves turned out beautiful! I have some pics on Webshots but not sure how to post them I would like to show them off!

In California there are warnings on the portland cement bags that it can cause cancer... it states something like in CA it can cause cancer... so I guess if you're not in CA it won't cause cancer...lol.. I developed bacteria growing in my lungs two yrs ago, had pneumonia, in hosp. for 6 days and had the bacteria sucked out of my lungs..was really gross... will never know what caused it to get there in first place. They killed it with antibiotics before a sample was taken... but as a warning to others... I made LOTS of stepping stones, birdbaths and pedastals prior to this happening...without a mask most of the time... It's not worth almost losing your life... WEAR A MASK ALWAYS!!!! Emtnest