How poisonous is RTV silicone sealant (room temperature
vulcanization?)?

When I use this "glue", I lick my fingers to get them wet to smooth
the glue out. Otherwise it looks like a mountain range. I use a
different finger each time, but today I needed more fingers than
usual. And after I used the same finger twice, I could taste the RTV
in my mouth for 10 minutes or more until I could go rinse my mouth
out. Is that bad for me?

I don't think sticking my finger in a cup of water would work because
spit etc. seems to work a lot better than plain water. But I wonder
if I'm worrying for nothing, or if this really is bad for me.

--------
Unless a chemist knows why there is no more black RTV anymore, to the
A.H.R people: I couldn't find Duco or Duro rubber for sale, in a
store or on the net, and I looked on the net for something else black
but so far hadn't found anything. Then I "inherited" three 2 1/2-oz.
tubes of clear RTV silicone sealant so I used that.

I can't find any black RTV anymore and I used to use it a lot. I
can't find GE silicone cement in the 2 to 4 oz. tubes anymore and that
used to come in white, clear, black, and maybe something else. Now
they sell a variety of GOOP, for different uses, but all are "clear".

I found 2 or 3 black things that fit caulking guns, like roofing
caulk, but none were listed both as adhesive and as flexible, like RTV
is.

What's going on?

Is something wrong with black?

Dunno. But if I wanted to, first thing I'd to is DAGS (do a Google
Search) on various strings like maybe "rtv silicone hazard". A variant
on RTFM. _Then_ ask others to elucidate, maybe.

J

mm wrote:
How poisonous is RTV silicone sealant (room temperature
vulcanization?)?
snip

According to mm :
I don't think sticking my finger in a cup of water would work because
spit etc. seems to work a lot better than plain water. But I wonder
if I'm worrying for nothing, or if this really is bad for me.

It's toxic of course, but if it was sufficiently toxic to be hazardous
in the dosages you'd remotely reasonably be getting, they probably couldn't
be selling it - even with lots of dire warnings on the label (which
some have anyway).

Indeed, uncured silicone isn't good on your bare hands _either_.

I've done many hundred feet of caulking over a few days recently, some
with silicone, some latex. Nothing beats having lots of rags handy
to continually wipe your hands.

With latex, I've just discovered that a wet/wrung-out rag not only
keeps my hands clean/lubricates fingers for spreading/handy for
picking up/cleaning off blobs from the tip, but you can rinse it
out, and reuse it indefinately.

But that doesn't help much with RTV/silicone, which does seem to
spread much better with saliva. Plain water is fine for latex.

Just have plenty of rags or paper towels and keep your fingers
scrubbed.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

"Chris Lewis" wrote in message
...
According to mm :
I don't think sticking my finger in a cup of water would work because
spit etc. seems to work a lot better than plain water. But I wonder
if I'm worrying for nothing, or if this really is bad for me.

It's toxic of course, but if it was sufficiently toxic to be hazardous
in the dosages you'd remotely reasonably be getting, they probably
couldn't
be selling it - even with lots of dire warnings on the label (which
some have anyway).

Indeed, uncured silicone isn't good on your bare hands _either_.

I've done many hundred feet of caulking over a few days recently, some
with silicone, some latex. Nothing beats having lots of rags handy
to continually wipe your hands.

With latex, I've just discovered that a wet/wrung-out rag not only
keeps my hands clean/lubricates fingers for spreading/handy for
picking up/cleaning off blobs from the tip, but you can rinse it
out, and reuse it indefinately.

But that doesn't help much with RTV/silicone, which does seem to
spread much better with saliva. Plain water is fine for latex.

Just have plenty of rags or paper towels and keep your fingers
scrubbed.


A tip I saw the other day was to dip your finger in 3-in-1 oil and run it
along the caulking, makes for a smooth clean seam (haven't tried it myself).

the other tip was not to lick you finger as you introduce bacteria into the
caulk, especially in a bathroom environment, could lead to issues down the
road.

PV

mm wrote:
How poisonous is RTV silicone sealant (room temperature
vulcanization?)?
(snip)
What's going on?

Is something wrong with black?

Well...... Condom manufacturers make them in a wide variety of
colors, but had to quit making them in black because of toxicity of the
black pigment in the latex. Maybe they had the same problem with RTV.
Have you tried RTV windshield sealant - it used to come in black.

In article , NOPSAMmm2005
@bigfoot.com says...

Unless a chemist knows why there is no more black RTV anymore, to the
A.H.R people: I couldn't find Duco or Duro rubber for sale, in a
store or on the net, and I looked on the net for something else black
but so far hadn't found anything.

Perhaps it's less popular, so fewer retailers are carrying it? But it's
certainly still available. Go to www.mcmaster.com, search for RTV
silicone, several varieties of black RTV silicone still available.


--
is Joshua Putnam
http://www.phred.org/~josh/
Books for Bicycle Mechanics and Tinkerers:
http://www.phred.org/~josh/bike/bikebooks.html

On 5 Sep 2006 19:39:53 -0700, "Bob" wrote:

mm wrote:
How poisonous is RTV silicone sealant (room temperature
vulcanization?)?
(snip)
What's going on?

Is something wrong with black?

Well...... Condom manufacturers make them in a wide variety of
colors, but had to quit making them in black because of toxicity of the
black pigment in the latex.

Hmmmm. This would be proof enough for me except for what I learned on
Thursday.

Maybe they had the same problem with RTV.
Have you tried RTV windshield sealant - it used to come in black.

I think it was 2 days after I posted this, I was in Advance Auto Parts
and they had in black, by Permatex. Also they had make a gasket in
black, also by Permatex. (They used to have it in silver too!, but I
never tried that one.

P&M because this list moves fast.

On Tue, 5 Sep 2006 22:02:28 -0700, Joshua Putnam
wrote:

In article , NOPSAMmm2005
says...

Unless a chemist knows why there is no more black RTV anymore, to the
A.H.R people: I couldn't find Duco or Duro rubber for sale, in a
store or on the net, and I looked on the net for something else black
but so far hadn't found anything.

Perhaps it's less popular, so fewer retailers are carrying it? But it's
certainly still available. Go to www.mcmaster.com, search for RTV
silicone, several varieties of black RTV silicone still available.

Thanks to you and everyone for a lot of good suggestions, and to Chris
for confirming what I was afraid was my imagination, that spit works
better than water sometimes.

I'll bare the germ theory in mind when I do the bathroom. This time
it is just the rubber parts on my 1969 Honda, that I'm hoping to make
run, plus some shoes.

P&M because this list moves so fast.