Fiberglass is made up of tiny particles of glass or glass wool, and when trimmed, cut, sawed or sanded it releases dust. These tiny particles that are released are known to cause itchy red rashes on the exposed skin. Exposure can be through skin contact, inhalation or even swallowing. Such levels of exposure are generally more likely to be prevalent when working with fiberglass in an indoor environment. Preventive measures are quite effective if you know that you will be handling fiberglass or exposed to it. Simply dusting your body with talcum powder will block the pores preventing fibers from penetrating the skin. Keeping your skin completely covered with gloves on your hands, and a hood over your head and ears will suffice. A face mask will also filter air inhaled.
Make sure you follow these preventive measures when working with fiberglass in the future. In the meantime there are some natural remedies or self care tips that you can use to minimize the irritation and soothe your skin.
- The first thing you should do is to rinse your skin under a cold shower, so as to get rid of any fiberglass particles or residue on the skin surface.
- After you're done with a cold shower, have a hot water bath. A hot bath with steaming water should be your next step. The hot water and steam will expand or open your pores, releasing the embedded fiberglass particles. The heat that you are exposed to will also cause you to sweat profusely, which is extremely beneficial as this is your body's natural cleansing mechanism and will help dislodge any fiberglass particles.
- Once you are done bathing cover your skin with a generous application of body butter, baby oil, or any other thick lotion, so as to loosen up and get rid of any remaining fiberglass from the pores.
- Wash the clothing that you wore at the time of exposure and soon after separately from all other laundry. This will ensure that the fiberglass particles do not get transferred to any of the other clean clothes.
Keep in mind that this is not a cause of serious worry as the fiberglass particles will sooner or later find a way out of your skin, irrespective of whether you have a bath or not. Be careful not to have a hot bath with water that is too hot. Scalding yourself will only add to your problems.
answered by S D