Shoutout to the old timer who told me the dust from sanding joint compound is way worse for your lungs than wood dust, a fact I just confirmed in a trade safety PDF from the union hall.

I found a chart in that PDF showing silica levels from joint compound dust are like 5 times higher than from sanding pine, which is wild because I never wore a respirator for finish work before.

3 comments

3 Comments

ryan_nguyen1mo ago

Yeah, that's a scary wake-up call. I did a kitchen remodel last year and sanded a ton of mud without a mask, just a dust mask. Felt fine at the time, but I had a dry cough for weeks after. My buddy who does drywall full time told me the same thing, he said that stuff is basically super fine powder and it just hangs in the air forever. Now I won't even touch the sander without a proper respirator, it's just not worth the risk.

fox.simon1mo ago

My drywall guy said it's basically breathing in powdered glass...

river_rivera452d ago

Yeah but did your buddy wear a proper respirator from day one or learn the hard way?