Is Vinac Flammable?

[FossilsandScience]

Hey everyone,

 

I recently purchased vinac beads to help preserve my fossils and when I got it, the directions tell me to mix the beads with pure acetone. As we know, pure acetone is flammable and dangerous to breath in and so my question is, when you mix the Vinac beads with acetone, is the resulting Vinac still flammable and dangerous to breath in or does the Vinac neutralize it? When the Vinac dries onto the fossil after applied, is it still dangerous to breath in and flammable? Also, what type of filter or mask should I use when using acetone to prevent damage to lungs? Any info is appreciated! Thanks!

[caldigger]

I am sure others will add their thoughts on which is the best safety equipment to use. 

I think the Acetone will quickly evaporate, thus not creating a flammable danger once thoroughly dried. You will just be left with a plastic coating on the fossil.

In fact when using Acetone it is important to wear protective gloves as you can actually numb your skin from the amount of cold caused by it evaporating so fast.

[snolly50]

I use a 3M brand respirator with a dual cartridge configuration, rated for particulate matter/vapor. I forget the model, but 3M customer service can advise as to the exact rig you want. My career was spent at a large hospital and we were required 40 hours of in-service every 3 years in addition to whatever was required for individual professional licensure/certification. One of the required courses was "fire and safety." While no one I was aware of would use a respirator at our facility the class included a section on respirators. The guy that taught would point at seemingly random guys in the audience and direly proclaim, "It wont do you a bit of good!" The variable - beards. He claimed that a proper seal could not be obtained and any vapor protection would be lost. I have a beard which goes from close trimmed to moderately full. If I block the intake on my mask and breathe in it sucks on like crazy. More importantly, wearing that rig, I have never experienced even the slightest smell of acetone. As you know it has a powerful odor; so I figure I am not taking any in.

 

@Ptychodus04

[Ptychodus04]

1st, occasional exposure to acetone fumes isn’t considered extremely harmful. I am regularly exposed to them so I wear appropriate PPE (respirator & gloves) when handling it in quantity. I don’t wear gloves when applying minor consolation with an artist’s brush to a specimen but I’m already wearing the respirator at this point for the prep.

 

My mask is a 3M respirator with a NIOSH P100 filter. It is good for .01 micron particles and vapors. I wear a full beard most of the time and never have a moment’s problem getting a seal in the mask.

 

Acetone vapors are extremely flammable when concentrated but normal care when using the product will fully eliminate an explosion risk (i.e. proper ventilation, no ignition source). Once the acetone has completely evaporated from the Vinac solution, there is no flammability concerns from the PVA itself.

 

 

[erose]

Along with a good mask make sure the workspace is ventilated. A small fan, open window, exhaust hood, etc.

[Mark Kmiecik]

Vinac itself, without the acetone is flammable. However, a thin surface layer over a fossil or matrix is nearly impossible to ignite so that it will keep on burning. It can't produce enough heat to sustain ignition.

[jpc]

I was once involved in a wintertime dig...it was cold enough that the acetone in the vinac took its sweet time evaporating.  So we lit it on fire. Presto, acetone burns off, leaving you nice vinaced bones (that did not burn).  

[FossilsandScience]

About how long does it take for acetone to evaporate?

[jpc]

if you pour some on your hand, it evaporates so fast that it cools your hand.  On the other hand if it is cold out, it will take much longer.  esp if it is really cold.  If it is mixed with vinac beads,it also goes slower.