I am now appealing my appeal One of the questions I have to answer is exposure in my career to Hazardouse materials, but paints and thinners are not mentioned ....just wonder if I should look up some of the paints and thinners we used to use in the 70's and early 80's on the cutters like Green death, zinc cromate(sp),some nasty stuff we called trike( short for ?),Red Lead. I did my turn in the paint locker on the Morg. and remember having no protective gear ( gloves, masks)for over a month. Most of the stuff we had to mix ourselves. MSST sheets had not been invented yet. Read somewhere that even Guno(seagull ****)is now considered Hazardous and my cause health proplems.
Any thoughts?

Hey Trich wasn't the bad stuff. Carbon Tetrachloride was the bad stuff. Worked great, though!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Trichloroethane can refer to either of two isomeric chemical compounds:

1,1,1-Trichloroethane (methyl chloroform)
1,1,2-Trichloroethane (vinyl trichloride)

From wikipedia on Carbon tetrachloride.

In the early 20th century, carbon tetrachloride was widely used as a dry cleaning solvent, as a refrigerant, and in fire extinguishers[5]. However, once it became apparent that carbon tetrachloride exposure had severe adverse health effects, safer alternatives such as tetrachloroethylene were found for these applications, and its use in these roles declined from about 1940 onward. Carbon tetrachloride persisted as a pesticide to kill insects in stored grain, but in 1970, it was banned in consumer products in the United States.

also

Tetrachloroethylene is a manufactured chemical used for dry cleaning and metal degreasing. Exposure to very high concentrations of tetrachloroethylene can cause dizziness, headaches, sleepiness, confusion, nausea, difficulty in speaking and walking, unconsciousness, and death. Tetrachloroethylene has been found in at least 771 of the 1,430 National Priorities List sites identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

quote:

Originally posted by MCCOASTIE:
I am now appealing my appeal One of the questions I have to answer is exposure in my career to Hazardouse materials, but paints and thinners are not mentioned ....just wonder if I should look up some of the paints and thinners we used to use in the 70's and early 80's on the cutters like Green death, zinc cromate(sp),some nasty stuff we called trike( short for ?),Red Lead. I did my turn in the paint locker on the Morg. and remember having no protective gear ( gloves, masks)for over a month. Most of the stuff we had to mix ourselves. MSST sheets had not been invented yet. Read somewhere that even Guno(seagull ****)is now considered Hazardous and my cause health proplems.
Any thoughts?

I think you may have used 'trike' to clean the crusty old paint brushes before MEK arrived on scene. Soak a hardened brush in MEK overnight, and it cleaned up good as new. Blue Death, Green Death, Zinc Chromate, and Red Lead were commonplace back in the 70's. MEK and Toluene were used for cleaning brushes and thinning some coatings, but both are hazardous materials. The fumes were strong, but never as strong as blue death. I think the blue/green death technical name is somewhere along the line of 'pre-wash treatment primer', or something like that. It's purpose was to aid in etching the primer to the surface being painted, among other things.

If you did any time on a construction tender, you probably encountered creosote coated pilings, as well as pressure treated. The pilings and lumber had the heaviest concentration of CCA (chromated copper arsenate) at 2.5%. Typical home depot ranges from .25 to .40%. Ever pick up any old batteries dripping battery acid when pulling up downed lighted structures. Had one seaman come in contact with some of that and had to be medivaced. Once it got into his system he started convulsing ... not a pretty site.

Anyway, good luck on appealing your appeal.

--Jim

Don't forget that other trike, trichlorofluoromethane.

If you were on an older cutter you probably had plenty of asbestos too.

You should definitely have the paints, thinners and asbestos listed in your VA file! Don't give up on it!

This is where a VA Service Officer, or another Coastie from that generation who filed with the VA, can assist too. I believe there used to be a listing of CG ships with the possible exposures contained for that vessel. It came about not long after Agent Orange was finally recognized as hazardous for those who served in Viet Nam. These would be the older cutters, and 41's and 44's that used these hazardous materials, without protection. If you had proof that you were stationed aboard those units, certain exposures were "automatic assumptions" to the VA Claim.

I didn't retire til much later, and wasn't in this category, but heard about it from retirees passing along to those getting ready to retire. It may have just been something someone put together up here in Maine or NH, and the VA Rep made sure all others were taken care of too. It may have been put out by the CG after many inquiries, Claims, Challenges, Appeals, etc. It's worth asking around to see if anyone remembers it. I'll check around the network to see if it's possible to get the ref. or where to get a copy.