Waxing smoke and particles at focus at Oslo 2011

A snowHead

Hi All,

This has recently been added to the Snowsport England website.
I have added this topic under the Snowsports area of the forum due to the emphasis on fluorinated waxes.

My son is at the age now where he is waxing his race skis around 3 times a week after training, this means potentially he is exposed to waxing particles on average 12 times a month and well over maybe 250/300 times a year due to waxing every day during the season when training/racing abroad. Even when he waxes his skis outdoors because of his height being a wee man he is directly over the iron so again still exposed even if outdoors.

When you do the maths on this for a racer its quite concerning.

If the guys at the top are concerned about this then I think we should take note, its definitely something I will stress to parents of young racers and racers next time I give any talks on waxing.

Waxing Smoke - Health Issue

Waxing smoke and particles at focus at Oslo 2011

Health problems related to smoke and pollution in the ski waxing rooms have attracted increased attention in recent years. Leading researchers in this field come from Sweden and Norway. Invited by Inggard Lereim, head of medical and anti-doping for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships Oslo 2011, these researchers presented their latest results for doctors, head coaches and leaders of the team service teams in a special research seminar on the topic held in Holmenkollen on 22nd February.

Independently, the studies led by Helena Nilsson, -rebro University and Baard Freberg, Oslo University, respectively, have documented similar results.

Pollution and smoke in the air in the waxing cabins shows levels of particles up to ten times above what is permitted in industrial working spaces by the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority. The waxing smoke causes inflammation in the lungs and decreases lung functions, according to Baard Freberg.

The common use of fluorinated compounds is a concern. Particles created by waxing are so small that when inhaled they pass from the lungs directly into the blood and can aggregate in the body to a concentration that amount to a hundred times the normal value. The time to exit the body for some of them can be several years. Long-time health effects are at stake.

The use of professionally equipped waxing rooms has decreased levels of smoke by 95 %. The Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority has decided that all waxing cabins at Oslo 2011 must have proper ventilation to protect the service teams' health.

For further information contact helena.nilsson(at)oru.se or Baard.Freberg(at)stami.no

Contributed by Roger Olsson, FIS Medical Supervisor, Oslo 2011

A snowHead

So, ventilation seems a key point., but are there any suitable masks\filters that should be considered that would be suitable to filter out the flourinated wax particles?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Officially (this comes from doctors testing Swix service guys 4-5 times/year (each of their xc, alpine and snowboard service guys) for last 10 years or so), there is no danger. Only danger with fluoro waxes is, when you heat it over 300-400c. Considering you have also some other problems when doing this, and considering normal waxes are heated somewhere up to 120c, and powders up to 150c, reaching previously mentioned 400c is still long way ahead Wink

But on other side, you have lot of other things to consider. Fumes from waxes are one thing, tiny particles going into the air when preparing skis (especially edges) are other thing. And I would say those are much more dangerous then fumes. With 10+ pairs to prepare, and especially when using something like Trione, there's so much metal in air, that it's really not nice thing to be around.
But on the other side, I use gas mask. I was probably one of first on on WC to use gas mask when preparing skis, and most of people were laughing at me that time. By the time I was quiting my job as serviceman in world cup, pretty much everyone were using masks, and they still do nowadays Smile

Masks are cheap (starting at 30-40eur, and going up to 500eur for full face masks with powered respirators), so why to risk if there's no need to.

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Thing I was talking about has nothing to do with this document above. This what I was talking about is Swix internal research, which they do with their doctors and with their service guys. I know this at least for Swix alpine, xc and snowboard service guys on WC (since these few guys are really good friends), but most likely it goes further then this too, but for that I don't have any info. These people get tested 4 to 5 times a year, and they are doing this for quite few years already. And until now, they didn't find out anything dangerous. I have no idea if this research was published anywhere, or it's really just Swix internal thing, but fact is, that for now nothing showed anywhere, and these guys do a whole lot more then most of other people do, when it comes to waxing.
On top of that, there was some research done by FIS and some Swiss (or was it German? ) university years ago, when first fluoro powders came out, and conclusion is, that they are not toxic unless overheated. And from there comes this 400-500c (not 300-400c as I wrote in first post).
As I wrote... I was one of first ones on WC to use gas mask, so I'm not telling usage of gas masks is useless. Fumes might be harmless, but then again they might not be. I have no idea how long it takes to show somewhere, so maybe 10 years or so, as Swix is doing these tests, are not enough. So I was rather on safe side back then, when I did 10-20 pairs a day, just as now, when I do just 2 or 3 pairs a week Wink

Once you get used to have gas mask on your face, it really doesn't bother you. And as I wrote... they are cheap enough that it's worth getting them, and not being worried waxing is dangerous or not.

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Sorry to jump in on this thread a bit late, but I agree with Edge2Win. I use a basic mask from a DIY store and it does the job just fine. I was getting my masks from B&Q but recently switched to a smaller company as they we much cheeper and delivered for free. If it helps anyone, this is the mask I now use: https://s-pgroup.com/shop/product/p3-dust-mask-safegard-730

After all it is free

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The technician at our local dry slope became very ill many years ago from repeatedly breathing in wax fumes and almost died. I think he was pensioned out of the job and they installed something like you get in kitchens to remove the fumes. Doing your own waxing a few times a season in a well ventilated garage is unlikely to cause problems. If you do many pairs a day as your job I would not want to breathe in the fumes. (I am a retired science teacher so have some knowledge of chemicals...)

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Waxing smoke and particles at focus at Oslo 2011

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