James D
When I look back to the RAF of some 40yrs ago, we aircraft engineers were splashing a lethal cocktail of chemicals around on an almost daily basis:
Trichloroethane/ethylyne
Metheylethylketone (MEK)
Toluene
PRC Sealing compounds
And lots of other nasty things
ElfnSafety had not been invented yet; protective clothing was minimal & education on such products non-existant.
I recall a guy at Lyneham(?) being found unconscious over a solvent bath for a protracted period - severe brain damage (IIRC, he was cleaning some motorcycle parts at lunchtime?). We just did not realise the risks in those days at all.
I have instructed my family that on no account am I to be cremated upon my demise; I fear that the ensuing conflagration would take several days & the ministrations of the Fire Brigades of two counties to extinguish, due to the amount of such substances I have absorbed.
However, I am still here, age 56yrs & fit as a butcher's dog. I still have to fight the popsies off with a stick, and have cultivated a theory that draught Guinness clearly neutralises the threat posed by such toxins in the human body.
HB