# Attic cough



## drewsserviceco

Maybe it's like heavy metal poisoning and you've now built up to toxic levels. 

Kidding, but only sort of. 

Our bodies change over time, so who knows. 

I know I can definitely tell the difference in insulation by type and vintage, like a fine wine. Some stuff is much worse than the others.


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## joebanana

Do you work in houses built before 1973? You may want to see a doctor.


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## telsa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_wool

*History*

Slag wool was first made in 1840 in Wales by Edward Parry, "but no effort appears to have been made to confine the wool after production; consequently it floated about the works with the slightest breeze, and became so injurious to the men that the process had to be abandoned".[2]


%%%

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicosis




_Chronic simple silicosis_
 Usually resulting from long-term exposure (10 years or more) to relatively low concentrations of silica dust and usually appearing 10–30 years after first exposure.[8] This is the most common type of silicosis. Patients with this type of silicosis, especially early on, may not have obvious signs or symptoms of disease, but abnormalities may be detected by x-ray. Chronic cough and exertional dyspnea are common findings. Radiographically, chronic simple silicosis reveals a profusion of small (<10 mm in diameter) opacities, typically rounded, and predominating in the upper lung zones.


%%%%%%


Medical science is built upon the dead.


That's not a joke.


No-one researches much of anything until the bodies stack up.


The first stage of all research is denial.


It is funded by the producers of said manufacture.


&&&&


STOP entering such spaces without protection. 



Your body is telling you something.


&&&&


For me it's rodent dung atop old ceiling tiles. I can't hack it. I get an allergic reaction.


So, I stopped doing that.


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## Switched

joebanana said:


> Do you work in houses built before 1973? You may want to see a doctor.


Ditto this.


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## splatz

Is it built before 1919? I think it's probably bird flu.


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## joebanana

splatz said:


> Is it built before 1919? I think it's probably bird flu.


Or Hantavirus?


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## Anathera

Some exposure to asbestos, some exposure to silica but I haven't worked with either directly only exposure through proxy (crawling through places that we later found had a lot of asbestos insulation on the piping) but the way the safety things read neither should give me issue until 10+ years and I have only been in the field 5 years. I've been trying to remember the masks to listen to what the body is saying but old habits are hard to break.


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## MTW

I never work in attics without a full respirator now.


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## zac

Unfortunately I have to wear a jump suit or long sleeve shirts when I'm in the attic. I literally break out if I rub up against the insulation and it makes the rest of the day miserable. If I pull my extension ladder off the rack of my van I also try not to breath in the flakes billowing in the sun light. The hotter the day the more the fiberglass breathes. 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk


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## MechanicalDVR

I read an article not that long ago about being allergic to the insecticides they put in blown in insulation. There is a multitude of bad particulates that can be found in attic dust, I opt for a respirator with asbestos quality filters.


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## papaotis

learn from old and less cautious! wear a mask in ANY old enclosed space and around concrete dust! (sawing mostly). we all have different tollarences to different dusts, dont find out 20 years from now!


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## Switched

papaotis said:


> learn from old and less cautious! wear a mask in ANY old enclosed space and around concrete dust! (sawing mostly). we all have different tollarences to different dusts, dont find out 20 years from now!


You know how you try to explain to someone about the failure they are about to have because of the condition of the equipment or the shoddy installation?

Well, doctors and research have been telling us to quit being dumbasses for a while. You probably have a greater chance of death, or at least a miserable existence, getting sick from the work we do than from working live.


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## RePhase277

I know it isn't proper PPE, but I use a wet rag or towel. I just can't work in a mask or respirator in a hot environment.


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## splatz

joebanana said:


> Or Hantavirus?


I hope it isn't the lung AIDS


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## MechanicalDVR

splatz said:


> I hope it isn't the lung AIDS


The other day there was a post with a mention of clap in the esophagus and now lung Aids...there is some bad stuff out there.


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## chicken steve

telsa said:


> Medical science is built upon the dead.
> 
> 
> That's not a joke.
> 
> 
> No-one researches much of anything until the bodies stack up.
> 
> 
> The first stage of all research is denial.
> 
> 
> It is funded by the producers of said manufacture.
> 
> 
> &&&&
> 
> 
> STOP entering such spaces without protection.
> 
> 
> 
> Your body is telling you something.
> 
> 
> &&&&
> 
> 
> For me it's rodent dung atop old ceiling tiles. I can't hack it. I get an allergic reaction.
> 
> 
> So, I stopped doing that.


There are many forms of ARDS , a psychosomatic response for many (your truly included) attic rats is coughing on the mere sight of insulation....

~CS~


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## lighterup

Anathera said:


> Never used to bother me when i first started out but here lately I've noticed almost any attic work i do I end up with a nasty hack for the next day or so. It's the blown in rockwool insulation that does it worst but i've noticed about any attic work these days I have to get out at least a dust mask or deal with gunk in the throat the rest of the day. Anyone else have issue with this, its like low level allergies but i've not ever really had an issue with it before. Had some low level asbestos exposure but everything i've seen says that takes years to manifest. For now I'm all for the respirator but wanted to see if anyone knows the source for that kind of issue


I rewired a ranch last month and had to crawl in the attic to remove knob & tube as well as add new wiring. 
I started out without a mask and noticed the same thing. (I used to be able
handle it better , but not so much any more). I put the mask on and itdefinitely
helped. 
The problem with the mask is , being in the attic I sweat bullets and then
my bi-foculs fog up. Just got to deal with it though. Small price to pay to
breath.


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## joebanana

splatz said:


> I hope it isn't the lung AIDS


If it was he'd be blowing lung chunks out his nose. :blink:


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## MechanicalDVR

joebanana said:


> If it was he'd be blowing lung chunks out his nose. :blink:


Thanks for that visual, red spots on the fiberglass.


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## GMD

Dust (mostly silica from concrete) is my #1 concern on the job. big commercial sites in my experience are terrible. Walk into a room being build out/drilled into and turn on your flashlight.. Google search "silicosis", you will scare yourself big time. Havent been in the trade very long and i can already feel it, will be seeing a doctor for sure. Mask up!


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## MechanicalDVR

GMD said:


> Dust (mostly silica from concrete) is my #1 concern on the job. big commercial sites in my experience are terrible. Walk into a room being build out/drilled into and turn on your flashlight.. Google search "silicosis", you will scare yourself big time. Havent been in the trade very long and i can already feel it, will be seeing a doctor for sure. Mask up!


If we only knew these things years ago.


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## lighterup

MechanicalDVR said:


> If we only knew these things years ago.


"Imagine what we'll know tomorrow"...oh damn , this ain't the movie
game..sorry.


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## just the cowboy

*Full face with blower*

I can't stand dust masks, never have. I just bought a full face resperator with backpack blower. Man is that thing great. With the forced air it don't fog up and stays cool (sort of), and you get use to working in it. the only thing I don't like is working at heights with it.


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## MechanicalDVR

just the cowboy said:


> I can't stand dust masks, never have. I just bought a full face resperator with backpack blower. Man is that thing great. With the forced air it don't fog up and stays cool (sort of), and you get use to working in it. the only thing I don't like is working at heights with it.


What happens at heights that is uncomfortable ?


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## just the cowboy

*Off balance*




MechanicalDVR said:


> What happens at heights that is uncomfortable ?


 
I am using it restoring my house after the fire. Up on the second floor the 6"x8" beams that are 2 ft on center are open right now. Normally I would just walk across them without thinking, but the other day with the mask on I froze and had to remove the mask due to peripheral vision loss due to mask.  
But as for the mask I had to use a wire brush on a grinder to get the char off the beams. A cloud of carbon dust no problem, just kept grinding away.


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## MechanicalDVR

just the cowboy said:


> I am using it restoring my house after the fire. Up on the second floor the 6"x8" beams that are 2 ft on center are open right now. Normally I would just walk across them without thinking, but the other day with the mask on I froze and had to remove the mask due to peripheral vision loss due to mask.
> But as for the mask I had to use a wire brush on a grinder to get the char off the beams. A cloud of carbon dust no problem, just kept grinding away.


Oh I see what you mean, I was thinking it was just being at height.


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