... Make sure you wear your mask. ...
painted my truck
I'm sorry, to get preachy, but I simply gotta point one thing out here, the only mask that will do you any good with CARC, or other urethane paints, is a fresh air mask that supplies you with fresh air from somewhere far outside of the paint booth.
CARC, and other urethanes, emit isocyanates (similar to cyanide gas) which are extremely bad for some people. Your sensitivity to isocyanates is generally cumulative. Your first few exposures may seem to do nothing. The next few you get a little wheezy, and find yourself clearing your throat, and coughing up phlegm. Soon you could find that just opening the can will leave you gasping for breath.
Our friends at W.R. Grace, invented Hypol, an isocyanate based product that is the "secret" ingredient of W.L. Gore's highly successful Gortex fabric. W.R. Grace was the first to industrialize an isocyanate based product, and the first to discover the extreme sensitivity some people develop to isocyanates. They had factory workers that became so sensitized to isocyanates that when they entered the door to the factory, they keeled over gasping for breath.
W.R. Grace had to institute an electronic badge system that prevented certain employees from gaining access to certain areas because of their isocyanate sensitivity.... I got this from a friend who was a chemist at W.R. Grace in Maryland.
W.R. Grace found that activated charcoal filters, such as are commonly used to protect against paint solvent exposure, had absolutely no effect on isocyanate gas. If anything, they give you a false sense of security that allows you to receive a much higher dose of isocyanate gas than you otherwise would. Isocyanate gas is basically odorless (almonds?) and colorless.
Fresh air pumped into the mask from a hose that is outside of the painting area is the only safe way of working with CARC and other urethane paints. (Shop air compressors are not generally a safe source of fresh air.)
Just because CARC, POR 50, or Imron did nothing to you last time is not a predictor of what will happen this time. If you have an acute attack, while you are painting all alone, you might not be able to get help fast enough.
Other products that emit isocyanates are crazy glue, PL's urethane caulk, Sika's urethane caulk and glue, Great Stuf expanding foam in a can, ... Your exposure to these small sources of isocyanates, could fuel a full blown sensitivity to CARC.
Be careful!
-Chuck
