your call

[redbucket]

i have a rather nuanced quandary...

I have been keeping an aquarium for over a year now. I have had my current job for about six months. My aquarium has been very stable for about 11 months.

My current vocation is printing: I print a local newspaper. My hands and forearms are (as well as, seemingly at random times, my forearms, back, ***, face, and toes) stained with ink. The ink is soy based, but does contain some petrolium.

For the past several weeks I have been doing aquarium work (pruning plants, scraping algae, etc.) with my bare hands while my previously mentioned appendages are stained in ink. Do you suppose this poses a threat to my fish? Such delicate work would be difficult with gloves, although I think I could manage. If you deem I need gloves, what type? They must go at least as far as my elbows.

So -- do I need protective gear considering the line of work I find myself in?


Thanks for responding. All responses will be considered delicately.

 

[liv2padl]

i'd say you're putting your fish at risk every time you expose them to the ink on your hands. latex gloves would perhaps give you more "feel", but washing that ink off before you head into the tank would be your best option.

 

[redbucket]

washing that ink off before you head into the tank would be your best option.

i don't think you understand. i use industrial strength degreaser on my hands before i leave work. then i take a shower. then i wash my dishes. then i take another shower. my hands are still grey with ink.

i am as cleansed as cleansed can be, my hands are stained with newspaper ink. the ink that gets into the tank would be trace amounts, i'm wondering now, though, if trace amounts over long periods of time could do damage?

 

[MrPpers]

I too am in the printing buss. I understand about the ink getting everywhere on your body. I never stick my bare hands into the water. I use a pair of gloves I found at Drsfostersmith.com called Aqua Gloves Cat#TD-912221 12.99 a pair. They are heavy duty and come all the way up to my shoulder. You might want to chck them out they also have some disposable sleeves they call them that might give you more feel when your pruning. good luck

 

[redbucket]

I too am in the printing buss. I understand about the ink getting everywhere on your body. I never stick my bare hands into the water. I use a pair of gloves I found at Drsfostersmith.com called Aqua Gloves Cat#TD-912221 12.99 a pair. They are heavy duty and come all the way up to my shoulder. You might want to chck them out they also have some disposable sleeves they call them that might give you more feel when your pruning. good luck

thanks for the info. good to see i'm not the only one out there with this problem

 

[IFLY2HIGH]

Try finding some of that soap with the pumace and or the plastic beads in it. We use that stuff at work and does a decent job at getting grease, dirt, and grime off. Some of those soaps can actually remove a layer of skin or at least it feels like it but should help getting the ink outa your skin. I'd be more worried about the chemicals themselves that you use to wash up the presses, but all that should come out in the shower...

Best bet is to use gloves if your worried, but ink and water don't nessarly mix either.

 

[Halo]

The shoulder high aqua gloves work pretty well, though you do lose some dexterity. I use them when my hands have been exposed to a lot of cleaning chemicals, and I don't want to contaminate my tank. Delicate work I save untill my hands have had a hard scrub, a long rinse, and perhaps a day off work. It's not the ideal situation to be sure, but I'd sure hate to get the degreaser I work with, or the other chems in my tank. Not a lot of great solutions for us, but we work with what we got, right?