On Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:22:17 +0100, Mark Rand
wrote:

On Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:16:01 -0700 (PDT), jay wrote:

Hi All
I assume it's not safe to breathe air from an oil lubricated air
compressor at sea level.

As an alternative to all the other posturing, here's a thought.

Specifically relating to oil contamination of the air. If the air's clean
enough to use in a paint spray gun, it's clean enough to breath.

This does not account for carbon monoxide from the gas engine driving the
compressor or re-circulated isocyanate fumes from the paint booth :-)

Nor does it account for the carbon monoxide sometimes produced from
the lubricating oil getting past the rings and getting hot. And the
problem with CO is that it binds to hemoglobin much better than O2 so
even a tiny amount over a long period of time can poison you.

Mark Rand(been spray painting today)
RTFM
ERS