MEK - a cautionary tale!

I recent ly spent the day at the aircraft restoration facility run by a friend of mine, cleaning parts and then spraying them with primer. At the end of the session, Matt kindly presented me with the now half full can of MEK. Parts all carefully loaded into the car, can of MEK, top secure, in the trunk, and I set off for the 200 mile drive home.

After about 45 minutes I began to feel pretty sleepy and over the next 15 minutes or so found it more and more difficult to stay awake. After a couple of near misses - basically falling asleep and waking up as the car changed lanes - remember that British motorways have a 70mph speed limit so they are not places to doze off - I just had to stop for some coffee.

Once into the service area coffee shop I woke up and felt much better very quickly. Back to the car, and once I opened the door - wow - the car was reeking of MEK. Opened the trunk - the can was on its side and despite the screw top being securely in place, had leaked what looked like a few drops, but clearly there must have been some vaporization -on-going for some time..... Secured the can upright in the passenger footwell where I could see it and made it home safely, no more problems.

At home, got on the web and YES - MEK IS an ANESTHETIC.

So if you are transporting MEK in car or van, make sure that the top really is secure, and that the can is wedged or tied so it can't fall over. My near misses with other cars could so easily have turned into multivehicle MVAs if I had stayed asleep just a few seconds longer......

So its not just flying and workshop safety to be mindful of.

Chris

Interesting story! Happy you're OK.

We can't get MEK here anymore in the US (or at least not in California). I've had to settle with acetone and white-gas to clean my tank parts prior to sealing. Maybe it's a good thing that we can't get it here anymore.

MEK

Can you order it from ACS? I am fortunate to be able to get an MEK substitute here at Ace Hardware Stores.

MEK

Lowes has it here in FL

yeah, still available in the great nation of Texas. I've used tons of the stuff but have recently started moving away from it.

Jerry Fischer said:

Can you order it from ACS? I am fortunate to be able to get an MEK substitute here at Ace Hardware Stores.

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Apparently the "MEK substitute" is Acetic acid, ethyl ester {Ethyl acetate}

http://www.wmbarr.com/ProductFiles/1636 KS MEK Substitute.pdf

I don't now how it works repairing ABS parts in certified planes compared to MEK though.

I started using Naptha for Pro-Seal pre-cleaning and it certainly smells better.

Jerry Fischer said:

Can you order it from ACS? I am fortunate to be able to get an MEK substitute here at Ace Hardware Stores.

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Yup, ACS has it; PolyFiber brand. I guess it's not carried in HW stores here.

I bought one of those 3M organic vapor respirators and I wear it religiously if I ever pop open the can of MEK. It works great for that. After seeing that stuff give my dad a gushing nosebleed while working on his -6, I don't want to be breathing any of it.

Bill, a lot of volatile compounds are not available in the bay area. It's the Bay Area Air Quality Board. All the paint you will see locally has low VOCs. They cannot sell anything else.

brain

Think of all those pesky brain cells that you got rid of while breathing MEK.
Some shops have gone to MPK, but it doesn't work as well.

BobTurner said:

Bill, a lot of volatile compounds are not available in the bay area. It's the Bay Area Air Quality Board. All the paint you will see locally has low VOCs. They cannot sell anything else.

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Thanks for the info Bob; I didn't know how extensive it was. It's nice to have clean air to breathe!