WHY SUREBOND DOES NOT INSTALL URETHANES / POLYURETHANES

IF YOUR FLOORING RESIN PART A OR PART B SDS MENTIONS “ISOCYANATE”, “MDI”, OR HAS DANGER SIGNALS OF H332, H334, H373, THIS APPLIES TO YOUR SITUATION. THE RESIN YOU ARE CONSIDERING OR HAVE INSTALLED CONTAINS “ISOCYANATES”.

All workers / occupants sharing a room or building workspace with urethane - cements and polyurethanes need to be informed of the risk of exposure during installation and curing of the floor resin materials, especially in an indoor environment.

SDS review by a Joint Safety Council or a person responsible for site safety should occur to assess the risks to employees and other trades sharing the building air within any room / building where the urethane cement / polyurethane floor isocyanate-based material is being mixed, applied, and curing. Just saying “good ventilation” for the project, is not enough.

What is “good ventilation”? “Good Ventilation” must be It depends on fresh air volume / location inlet as well as exhaust air volume / location outlet, building size, and other factors. Is it 2 changes/hr or 5 changes/hr? “Good ventilation” is a poor occupational safety recommendation by specification writers / resin suppliers / interior finish specialists / architects; it means “we don’t know, and you (the applicator) just figure it out”.

SUREBOND RULE #1: “IF YOU DO NOT MEASURE, YOU DO NOT KNOW. SO MEASURE”

SUREBOND RULE #2: WE WOULD NEED TO CREATE AN ISOCYANATE / URETHANE CEMENT / POLYURETHANE EXPOSURE CONTROL PLAN TO ENSURE:

• WE HAVE KEPT ALL UNNECESSARY PEOPLE OUT OF THE WORK AREA TILL IT IS SAFE AND TURNED OVER LESS THAN 5PPB.

• WE WILL SUPPLY BREATHING ARE TO ALL APPLICATION WORKERS IF LEVELS ARE ABOVE 5 PPB AT THE WORK STATION / INSTALL AREA.

• WE HAVE A VENTILATION PLAN IMPLEMENTED

• WE HAVE REAL-TIME MEASURED ISOCYANATE LEVELS REAL WITH YOUR VENTILATION PLAN AND

• WE HAVE SAMPLED IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS IN THE ROOM / BUILDING, AND

• WE COMPLY WITH 8 HOUR OEL OR 10 MIN SHORT TERM EXPOSURE LIMITS OF OUR OH&S JURISDICTION.

• WE HAVE LEARNED FROM SAMPLING, AND MODIFIED OUR VENTILATION PLAN TO BE IN COMPLIANCE.

• WE HAVE MONITORED AND VENTILATED FOR 24 - 28 HOURS TO BE SURE THAT BUILDING / ROOM IS “SAFE” IN ORDER TO DE-COMMISSION THE VENTILATION, AND RETURN TO THE CUSTOMER / GC.

Who says that the material even has risks? The resin suppliers in their SDS’s and NIOSH. This typical SDS Signal Word “DANGER” warning for a typical Part B Urethane Cement material applies to anyone breathing the same air within the building / enclosure where the urethane cement is being mixed AND is curing for the next estimated 24 to 48(?) Hours. (Or, until it is sampled and measured off-site and certified as “safe” by a certified Occupational Hygienist.)

See the following SDS sample document excerpt for a Part B Hardener for a urethane cement.

PROBLEM: THERE IS NO REALTIME TECHNOLOGY TOOL THAT SUREBOND CAN USE TO MEASURE THAT WE AND YOU ARE “SAFE” (8 HOUR OEL TWA 0- 5 PPB: “SAFE”).

HOWEVER, THERE IS A REAL-TIME TOOL THAT WILL TELL YOU THAT THE BUILDING ENVIRONMENT IS UNSAFE, WITH A RANGE OF DETECTION >>5 PPB.

FEW, IF ANY, WANT TO USE THAT REAL-TIME TECHNOLOGY THAT CAN MEASURE AT THE PPB LEVEL. WHY? IT COULD RESULT IN A JOB SHUTDOWN FOR SAFETY REASONS.

So, NIOSH and all OH&S legislation state implies that Workers (Applicators, Other Trades , or All Occupants) within room / building flooring work area are allowed to breathe a maximum of an average of 5 ppb in 8 hours (ie. 8 hour OEL TWA) for MDI (methylene di-phenyl di-isocyanate) or 20 ppb for 10 minutes (See Reference NIOSH for CAS # 101-68-8)

PROBLEM: IF WE USE A REAL-TIME MONITOR, AND IT TELLS THE WORKERS THAT THEY ARE BREATHING @ 20PPB, WORKERS ARE ALLOWED TO BE EXPOSED AT THIS LEVEL FOR 10 MINUTES.

THIS 20 PPB LEVEL CAN EASILY OCCUR CLOSE TO THE APPLICATION / MIXING AREA, OR ANYWHERE THIS HEAVIER THAN AIR MATERIAL MIXES / DISPERSES ITSELF THROUGHOUT THE CONFINED BUILDING.

BREATHING AIR IS NOW REQUIRED FOR ALL WORKERS…..

IN THIS SCENARIO, OUR WORKPLACE IS SHUTDOWN , AND FLOORLAYING CANNOT CONTINUE. NOW WHAT?

NIOSH recommends fresh-air supplied respirators for concentrations up to 50 ppb in that same NIOSH reference.

In other words, NIOSH does not recommend even half mask respirators with Organic Cartridges (OC) within the work area as being acceptable.

CONCLUSION: BASED ON THE FLOOR TURNOVER TO CLIENTS TIMELINE FOR RETURN-TO-FULL-SERVICE REQUIREMENTS, WORKER SAFETY, MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY LIMITATIONS, AND VENTILATION REQUIREMENTS, SUREBOND HAS MADE A CONSCIOUS RISK-BASED DECISION TO NEVER INSTALL ISOCYANATE -BASED RESINS SUCH AS URETHANE-CEMENTS / POLYURETHANES / TRAFFIC MEMBRANES.

WE ENDEAVOUR TO PROTECT OUR EMPLOYEES AS WELL AS YOURS. THIS IS WHY WE INSTALL SILIKAL(R) MMA RESINS.