From: Ysengrin Werewolf
Subject: A warning …

For those on the Fursuit list who met him at CF6, Lance is presently suffering from a greatly enlarged liver due to years of exposure to various chemicals in the FX lab. Most of this was back when he was much younger and in the “Nothing can hurt me” phase - several of the chemicals in his system are ones he hasn't worked with in years. A fairly minor exposure (spray painting in a poorly ventilated area) triggered his present condition because of the high levels of residuals in his system. He's in a fair amount of pain, and will be bedridden for several weeks. We think he's past the life-threatening stage, although it was touch and go for a while. It's being called 'environmental hepitatus' although there is no viral component at all.

The moral of this story is: never work without an approved respirator and filters when working with potentially toxic chemicals. It can and will come back to bite you later. Some of the chemicals Lance is affected by were absorbed through the skin, too. Most of his problem is various drying agents and MEK, but I will post a list of them when I get a chance so you can see if what *you're* working with is on there.

[Maintainer's note: Lance Pope has been doing well, a year since this message was written. Unfortunately, he passed away December 2002. He will be missed by many.]

From: Lex Nakashima
Subject: RCKing's CFE report

Re:fumes and stuff–first of all, most of these things are generally not healthy for you. Some attack brain cells, some the liver, etc. but as for specific symptoms:

- Dental Acrylic: Kills your sense of smell (don't know how permanent it is, but at least a noticeable amount at the time) and does make you feel kind of stupid and unmotivated (“dulled”).
- Barge (a shoe adhesive, excellent for glueing foams): Headaches and mood-swings (mostly, you get grouchy and easily ticked-off). A little bit of the “stupid” and sense of smell/taste.
- Resin: (for casting or fiberglass)– Aside from a little dizziness, I haven't noticed any obvious un-toward effects from resins. Possibly this is because I've (fortunately) not had any dangerous exposures to the stuff. It was when I was informed what that slightly pleasant smell was that I got scared (mostly cyanide+other stuff).
- Polyfoams: Again, I'd not noticed any obvious effects, though I got “smart” after a veteran foam-runner told me the story of the time he tried to save a mold when it popped open (next thing he knew, he was regaining consciousness, lying on the shop floor, with a headache and tunnel-vision…). Again, I discovered that the pleasant smell of kicking foam (kind of “oat-y”, like uncooked oatmeal) was what cyanide smelled like…
- Foam Latex: Just stinks, like amonia or old fish. As far as I know, not massively toxic.

These are the ones I can remember off the top of my head. All I can say is, when in doubt, -respirators-!