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How great is the cancer risk from leaking spray paint cans?
Hi all,
I build plastic models and paint metal figures as a hobby. I try to work only with products and acrylic paints labeled “non toxic”. I used to prime with aerosol paint cans in my back yard, but gave this up, along with using other known toxins, a few years ago. But I still had maybe 20 old aerosol cans stored in the basement. I stored them in the house to maintain some temperature control, which I understand is important for safe storage. I do my brush painting in a room off the side of my basement. Many of my old spray cans were stored in that room. We have another room off the other side of our basement in which we store tools, house paint and other things we don’t want the kids getting into. I also had a few aerosol spray cans stored in that room. About a week ago I noticed a solvent smell in the tool room. I thought it could be some polyurethane that we had stored in there so I moved those cans to the garage. This last weekend, I noticed a clear spray paint smell and saw that one of the aerosol spray cans was leaking a yellow bubbly goop from the bottoms seam of the can. I immediately removed it and every other spray can I had in the house the the garage and have subsequently disposed of all of them. As I was doing so, I noticed that two other cans (stored in the room where I paint) showed signs of similar leaks in the past. I never noticed any propellant smells from those other cans. I never noticed any propellant smells in any room of the house other than the tool room over the past week or so. How dangerous are these types of (what I assume to be) slow leaks from spray cans? I’m upset because I have always tried to be so careful with these types of materials. Any insights would be appreciated!
I build plastic models and paint metal figures as a hobby. I try to work only with products and acrylic paints labeled “non toxic”. I used to prime with aerosol paint cans in my back yard, but gave this up, along with using other known toxins, a few years ago. But I still had maybe 20 old aerosol cans stored in the basement. I stored them in the house to maintain some temperature control, which I understand is important for safe storage. I do my brush painting in a room off the side of my basement. Many of my old spray cans were stored in that room. We have another room off the other side of our basement in which we store tools, house paint and other things we don’t want the kids getting into. I also had a few aerosol spray cans stored in that room. About a week ago I noticed a solvent smell in the tool room. I thought it could be some polyurethane that we had stored in there so I moved those cans to the garage. This last weekend, I noticed a clear spray paint smell and saw that one of the aerosol spray cans was leaking a yellow bubbly goop from the bottoms seam of the can. I immediately removed it and every other spray can I had in the house the the garage and have subsequently disposed of all of them. As I was doing so, I noticed that two other cans (stored in the room where I paint) showed signs of similar leaks in the past. I never noticed any propellant smells from those other cans. I never noticed any propellant smells in any room of the house other than the tool room over the past week or so. How dangerous are these types of (what I assume to be) slow leaks from spray cans? I’m upset because I have always tried to be so careful with these types of materials. Any insights would be appreciated!
I don't think this will increase your risk of getting cancer- do you have a family medical history that has you concerned to start, or have you had a cancer scare in the past?
2 Comments
No. I just was not sure how long this had been going on and do not have a good sense of what level of VOC exposure from these types of chemicals is harmful.
I'm sure you are fine- I wouldn't even give it a second thought. :)
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