FishyFish Tolman Alaskan Skiff and Boat Building Forums

I too recently developed what I am pretty sure is an epoxy sensitivty.by all accounts mine is fairly minor, for now. 2 workingsessions in a row I got a poison ivy like rash on my eyelids and to a lesser degree on my hands. After I put 2 and 2 togather, I have been very vigilant about exposure. Full face mask respirator, tyvek suits, and taping the gloves to the suit. No new problems as of yet. Being winter in minnesota makes this all much easier. I was able to control the symtoms with over the counter benidryl, so I don't think I am quite as sensitized as it sounds like you may be. I am working out an active ventilation system as I am working on the inside of the cuddy. I may be over doing it, but I alredy had one close call while building my boat. Good luck with all of this!

Finally, this got so bad that I had multiple steroid injections as my skin began peeling and my arms and neck are covered with sores.  Then doses of prednisone gets it under control temporarily.  Seriously expensive anti-inflammation creams help a tiny bit but are too greasy for me to use much.
I was sort of unbelieving in an epoxy sensitivity until last night after a bout of sanding the itching began badly even though I am in the middle of a prednisone regimen.  Still am sorta unbelieving thinking it is mostly an issue of sanding dust drying the skin and the associated symptom of my hands and feet peeling like mad.
Crazilly enough, the skin doc thought I had managed to achieve caffeine poisoning cuz I told him I sweat a lot.  He asked me what I drink and I told him 'Coffee" and he asked "how many cups" and I told him, "Wrong question, it should be ""how many pots a day"" followed by Starbucks and chewing on French roasted coffee beans (dang I love coffee).  OK, I cut back to 3 cups a day and this relieves the sweating but the rash is worse.

Well ...If all you say is true and you cannot wear safety equipment in your environment, then it sounds like your project is ...well, doomed.  BUT, it may not be.  You have not proven to yourself that epoxy is the problem yet, so don't give up.  If I were you, I'd get any and all epoxy into a separate place on your property where you never need to go, and this includes the boats and anything made with or from epoxy.  Then I'd wait a few months and see if your issues go away (they may not even be allergies or some type of sensitization).  If, or when, your issues go away ...THEN and only then you are ready to see if epoxy is your issue.  Since when your system is responding to other allergens, the sensitivity to allergens in general increases, I would also remove all other allergens from your life for now: fragrances, artificial colors, pesticides on non-organic produce (only eat organic fruits/veggies for awhile), hormones (only eat organic meats or wild fish/game for awhile), and any and all other chemicals that you can find in your daily regimen.  Once things are cleared up, then purposely expose yourself to some freshly mixed epoxy, maybe even put a dab on your arm for a minute (and then clean it off by rubbing wood flour on it until all stickiness is gone and follow by washing with a mild detergent and lukewarm water - not hot water - it opens up pores in your skin).  IF you get a reaction from epoxy at that time, THEN you can say with confidence that you are sensitized to it.  Unfortunately, troubleshooting allergies is a tough row to hoe.  I went through the process several years ago and found out that I'm sensitive to certain red dyes and some fragrances ...now I use all hypo-allergenic products and eat mostly organic foods (to avoid pesticides, herbicides etc).  No more allergies for me ...even if I do get exposed to the 'bad things' now and then.  My doctor said, "When your allergen bucket is nearly full, it doesn't take much to cause it to overflow - keep that bucket empty and you'll be more resilient to all allergies".  Heck, you may find that after reducing or eliminating other allergens, that you may no longer be sensitive to epoxy ...assuming you are (good chance you are...).  BTW, it takes 2 or 3 months to clear all the allergen gunk out of your system, or at least it did for me...

Brian

Epoxy sensitivity on me is EXACTLY like a poison ivy reaction. It will go away after a week or so if you can keep from itching it. Here is what my face looked like when I decided to scrape some partially cured edges without a full face mask and short sleeves; my arms looked about the same. I am much more cautious now with protective clothing, and keep the garage door partially open when I'm working on epoxy.

What epoxy did you use?   Wow

I am in the same boat with high heat and humidity and lots of sanding to do.

After the first couple of sanding sessions left me itching like crazy I did some research and found that liberal applications of baby powder on any exposed skin does the trick. Apparently it fills the pores in your skin so the glass cannot lodge in there.

I got a couple crazy looking rashes prior to using the baby powder and none since. As cold a shower as you can stand after sanding helps too.

Good luck with the nickle allergy, that's a tough one.

Sorry to hear that your epoxy boatbuilding days are over. But it's good to know for sure what is causing your problem so that you can avoid it. Maybe you should start welding aluminum boats!