Adhesives are chemicals; they require your respect when using them. You should consult and follow the SDS (safety data sheet) and the manufacturer’s recommendations before using to minimise risks from skin contact, inhalation of vapours, and exposure to other hazards – and conduct a risk assessment.
Once cured, adhesives generally pose limited health and safety risk, as they become solid polymers or plastics. In certain circumstances, more care needs to be taken. Examples include the use of adhesives in wearable technology, where there is long term skin contact, or the use of epoxy in composite or other manufacture, where machining or sanding generates hazardous epoxy dust.
In component form, before and during mixing, when applying, and while uncured and in the curing process, it’s important that you follow instructions on the warning label and SDS, particularly on exposure levels and PPE. The PPE required typically includes gloves and goggles as a minimum. As with any chemical, there are health and safety considerations relating to REACH/RoHS regulations, which can affect how the materials are handled. You should be mindful of changes and update your risk assessments accordingly. One recent change from REACH applies to two-part PU adhesives with a total monomeric diisocyanate concentration of >0.1% — all users must be trained and certified in their handling.
Developments in adhesive packaging and dispensing can reduce risks by limiting direct contact with the adhesive chemicals. For example, many of our two-part structural adhesives are available in cartridges, and are mixed and applied through static mixing nozzles. This approach is convenient, less prone to error, and helps with your risk assessment.
A positive side effect is that, as health and safety has become more of a priority for industry, manufacturers have developed less hazardous adhesives, without a reduction in performance. For example, the REACH requirement for training on diisocyanates has led our development of polyurethane adhesives that are under the threshold of the legislation and pose a reduced health and safety risk, such as Point-One™ PU structural adhesives, which are based on micro-emission technology.
Many manufacturers have developed adhesives that carry fewer hazard warnings, such as Born2Bond Structural. This two-part hybrid cyanoacrylate adhesive repositions the chemistry into the structural adhesive category, which has historically been limited by temperature resistance and overall bond strength.
This post is part of a short blog series on handling and processing two-part adhesives.
