Working Safely With Conformal Coatings
A guide to Safe Working Practices
Warning!
Conformal Coatings contain a variety of ingredients, including solvents. If used incorrectly, these products can adversely affect your health in many ways. In some cases, the effects can be very serious.
What is a Conformal Coating?
Generally, a conformal coating comprises of two key components: the Resin blend (coating) which protects the PCB and the Solution blend in which the resin is suspended. When the coating is applied, the solution evaporates over a certain time period leaving the resin on the PCB to protect the product.
Many chemical substances within the solution which are used to dissolve or dilute other materials are called 'solvents' and are often a mixtures of several individual chemicals. They can be found under a variety of trade names.
Typical solvents used in conformal coatings include: Xylene, Toluene, MEK and even water, which is an excellent solvent for certain water-based conformal coatings.
How can Solvents in Conformal Coatings affect my Health?
Different solvents within coatings can affect your health in different ways. Some of the short-term affects can be:
Unconsciousness and even death can result from exposure to very high concentrations of solvent vapours. When affected by solvents, there maybe an increased chance of your involvement in an accident. There can also be long-term effects on your health from repeated exposure to particular solvents.
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