Watch What You Breathe

jbrumberg · Aug 19, 2007

To All:

There have been many posts as to safety practices, equipment, and safety gear in this forum. Having spent the past three weeks in the hospital most of it in Intensive and Critical Care, and having undergone many, many less than comfortable and invasive procedures with a lot of complications I now find myself an "expert" on lung infections caused by the inhalation of particulate matter possibly related to what a lot of this readership does on a daily and/or weekly basis (mowing, tilling, dirt engaging, etc.). The last thing anyone wants to get is what they call "Farmers' Lung"

(which fortunately I do not have

). I have now added particulate repirators/comfort masks to my safety apparel especially when brushhogging and serious dirt work. In hindsight I should have taken the obvious hint when I cleaned out my tractor's radiators and air filter. I will not be riding the seat for another couple of weeks due to doctor orders which is driving me crazy

. Please be careful out there and protect your lungs! Jay

Oleozz · Aug 19, 2007

Sorry to hear about your health problems but am glad that you are on the road to recovery. Are you prone to lung problems or is this a first? I never think about wearing a respirator when blowing out the radiator and air filter, which I do quite often.
Take care and follow your doc's orders.

BTDT · Aug 19, 2007

Jay, hope you get to feeling better real soon. I had a touch of farmers lung about 30 yrs ago. We set up a haunted house for our church in an old abandoned house (on one of the members property), and we used some old hay bales in places on the inside. All was well the night of the spook house, but the next day, myself and 2 of my friends were all in the Dr.'s office. When we explained what had happened, she said that's what we had. Used to be real common with farmers cleaning out barns of old hay. Be warned, you folks who are working in barns around old hay.

SPYDERLK · Aug 19, 2007

BTDT said:
Jay, hope you get to feeling better real soon. I had a touch of farmers lung about 30 yrs ago. We set up a haunted house for our church in an old abandoned house (on one of the members property), and we used some old hay bales in places on the inside. All was well the night of the spook house, but the next day, myself and 2 of my friends were all in the Dr.'s office. When we explained what had happened, she said that's what we had. Used to be real common with farmers cleaning out barns of old hay. Be warned, you folks who are working in barns around old hay.

If without respirator, breathe thru your nose as much as possible. The sharp turns in this path trap particles in the nasal tract to be flushed out by mucous.
larry

EdC · Aug 19, 2007

Jay

Get better quick, and do follow your doctors orders. It's amazing how a lung problem can knock your butt in the dirt. I had chemically induced pneumonia when I was in the AF and the first time they let me up to take a shower (oh blessed day) I was so exhausted I slept the entire rest of the day. Still take stuff for the problem and am pretty careful.

Hopefully the Docs told you that you'll be a bit more susceptible to lung problems from now on. No really big deal I just consider it an incentive plan for wearing the safety gear we should all wear anyway.

Destructo_D · Aug 19, 2007

EdC said:
Jay

Get better quick, and do follow your doctors orders. It's amazing how a lung problem can knock your butt in the dirt. I had chemically induced pneumonia when I was in the AF and the first time they let me up to take a shower (oh blessed day) I was so exhausted I slept the entire rest of the day. Still take stuff for the problem and am pretty careful.

Hopefully the Docs told you that you'll be a bit more susceptible to lung problems from now on. No really big deal I just consider it an incentive plan for wearing the safety gear we should all wear anyway.

your right... almost a year ago...(beginning of sept 2006) myself and my co workers got carbon monoxide poisoning...most of is got off lucky... our lungs capacity at the time could be compared to a pack a day smoker... 100% oxygen for 5 hours.... I could breather fine without it, the oxygen was to drive out the carbon dioxide faster... the worst part of it, was it wasted a friday night... didn't get out of ER until 10 pm....

one owner wasn't so lucky. he got sick, passed out twice at work and had a small seziure... he had to be flown out of town from the hospital to the "bends" chamber.

sooo, in the end, I am more 'aware' of any kind of fumes like exhaust, welding, etc.

Oh, the carbon monoxide came from a rental forklift while we were moving into a new building... Our good forklift was at our old location...

Z-Michigan · Aug 19, 2007

Jay - get well soon! Good caution. I've been wondering if there's a relationship between my coughing often coming post-tractor work. I actually bought some dust masks a few weeks ago, just haven't used them yet. Definitely will try next time I am using the tractor and see if I have less coughing afterwards.

horse7 · Aug 19, 2007

jbrumberg said:
To All:

There have been many posts as to safety practices, equipment, and safety gear in this forum. Having spent the past three weeks in the hospital most of it in Intensive and Critical Care, and having undergone many, many less than comfortable and invasive procedures with a lot of complications I now find myself an "expert" on lung infections caused by the inhalation of particulate matter possibly related to what a lot of this readership does on a daily and/or weekly basis (mowing, tilling, dirt engaging, etc.). The last thing anyone wants to get is what they call "Farmers' Lung" (which fortunately I do not have ). I have now added particulate repirators/comfort masks to my safety apparel especially when brushhogging and serious dirt work. In hindsight I should have taken the obvious hint when I cleaned out my tractor's radiators and air filter. I will not be riding the seat for another couple of weeks due to doctor orders which is driving me crazy . Please be careful out there and protect your lungs! Jay

OK... so what material or pathogen caused a problem?

There seem to be only 4 likely candidates: overtly toxic materials (we presume you are not bush hogging Love Canal); hypersensitive reaction to mold/virii/bacteria ("Farmer's Lung" which you say you did not have); various chronic ailments (brown lung/black lung/white lung/...) and/or an overload of the causative material; or overt infection by mold/virus/bacterium.

There are a few outlying really nasty possibilities like hantavirus (hemorrhagic fever causative organism)..... which wouldn't typically come from working out in a field.

I've been stripping off an 8" layer of shavings outside my place-- a tick suppression experiment that got out of hand-- which is of course moldy and filled with rodents. About 70% done.... get sinus headaches from pollen anyway, but they seem worse after shovelling the shavings [I would be reluctant to wear my AO organic vapor/dust mask at 95F... but always do when cutting pressure treated wood regardless, dust from cutting pressure treated wood is NASTY. ]

Maybe I should just make 2x the number of trips and skip the shovelling part filling the FEL bucket 100% full (and buy a TN85 with cab

)

DrainPondDesign · Aug 20, 2007

Jay,

Good to hear that you are on the mend.

I'm not an expert but do have some knowledge of respirators if you need it.

Bill

jbrumberg · Aug 20, 2007

Horse7:

I think my BOOP will remain idiopathic. Over the years I have had exposure to a lot of little nasties and chemicals including possible exposures while working in the jungles of Costa Rica and spending a lot of time in the Adirondacks. The general feeling is that a bacteriological pneumonia complicated by my under-reporting symptoms, self-neglect, and the delusional belief that I can tough this out led to the development of the BOOP. The doctors feel it is something organic in nature but the numerous tests and biopsies did not reveal anything.

DrainPondDesign:

Thanks

Jay

dfkrug · Aug 20, 2007

jbrumberg said:
Please be careful out there and protect your lungs! Jay

I will second that!

It amazes me that some people have lungs that are so robust that they
can tolerate the purposeful inhalation of smoke from burning dried plant
matter (tobacco), dozens of time a day. At least the heat kills any
pathogens.

I had one lung "walking pneumonia" once, and that sure makes you
appreciate your lungs. I had no capacity for any exertion. Never
knew how I got it or if it was bacterial or viral.

scott_vt · Aug 20, 2007

Mornin Jay,
I did put a get better soon post on another thread, after finding out about your illness, but I would like to welcome you back here amongst the living !

Glad you made it through, although it sounds as it wasnt an unscathed trip !

In my wood shop I use a small cyclone vac for the tablesaw and also have a ceiling mount air filter, and at times I can still see particulate matter floating around, bad stuff for sure ! I do occassionally wear a mask when it gets dusty, but Im not 100% concientious about it !

Painting tractor parts, if with a sprayer, I try and do them in a paint booth at work to minimize any harmful effects.

Just the same, thanks for a very good reminder !!! Glad your with us again !

tallyho8 · Aug 20, 2007

scott_vt said:
In my wood shop I use a small cyclone vac for the tablesaw and also have a ceiling mount air filter, and at times I can still see particulate matter floating around, bad stuff for sure ! I do occassionally wear a mask when it gets dusty, but Im not 100% concientious about it !

When speaking to an environmental engineer about shop filters he mentioned that ceilings were the worst possible place to put filters. He said that 99% of all shop pollutants are generated at a level beneath our heads and that a ceiling filters draws the pollutants up to our heads where we breathe them as they pass by. He said filters should always be mounted as low as possible in our shops.

I mentioned this to the owner of one shop I frequented and he replied "the filters get dirty too fast when mounted at floor level"

Well, DUH?

schmism · Aug 20, 2007

Ill take infectious diseases for $1000 please alex.

"this bacterium is naturally found in the soil and is now considered a biological wepon"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthrax#Description_of_the_bacterium

scott_vt · Aug 20, 2007

tallyho8 said:
I mentioned this to the owner of one shop I frequented and he replied "the filters get dirty too fast when mounted at floor level" Well, DUH?

Afternoon Tallyho,
Good one thanks !

toolsorbust · Aug 20, 2007

Another word to the wise. If you spend enough time on the tractor seat eventually you will bust a hydraulic line, dont breath in the mist or spray. Its bad news for your lungs (trust me i know)

horse7 · Aug 21, 2007

jbrumberg said:
Horse7:

I think my BOOP will remain idiopathic. Over the years I have had exposure to a lot of little nasties and chemicals including possible exposures while working in the jungles of Costa Rica and spending a lot of time in the Adirondacks. The general feeling is that a bacteriological pneumonia complicated by my under-reporting symptoms, self-neglect, and the delusional belief that I can tough this out led to the development of the BOOP. The doctors feel it is something organic in nature but the numerous tests and biopsies did not reveal anything.

Jay

I hate it when the trace and dump data doesn't contain enough information to reveal the roots of the problem...

And like most customers, you probably don't want Engineering to try to recreate the problem either!

jbrumberg · Aug 21, 2007

horse7 said:
I hate it when the trace and dump data doesn't contain enough information to reveal the roots of the problem...

And like most customers, you probably don't want Engineering to try to recreate the problem either!

Horse7:

Doctors told me that laughter was one of the best exercises for rehabilitation. Thank you for the exercise

! Jay

3RRL · Aug 21, 2007

Jay,
That was one reason I was hesitant moving from the Los Angeles area to the country.
It's scary not seeing what I'm breathing.

Soundguy · Aug 21, 2007

I know a guy that was put in the hospital after mowing a field of poison ivy.

Ironically after he got out, he figured he would solve his problem, and then burned the field off... yep.. back into the hospital again.. guess the burned 'urishol' (spelling?!? ) is as bad as 'chopped'.. etc.

Any chance it was a plant material like ivy/sumac/oak that got ya?

In any case.. good luck!

Soundguy

jbrumberg said:
Horse7:

I think my BOOP will remain idiopathic. Over the years I have had exposure to a lot of little nasties and chemicals including possible exposures while working in the jungles of Costa Rica and spending a lot of time in the Adirondacks. The general feeling is that a bacteriological pneumonia complicated by my under-reporting symptoms, self-neglect, and the delusional belief that I can tough this out led to the development of the BOOP. The doctors feel it is something organic in nature but the numerous tests and biopsies did not reveal anything.

DrainPondDesign:

Thanks

Jay