Improve Your Spray Booth Environment with Clean Air Solutions

What ensures a paint booth tech's health, keeps a shop operating efficiently, and smells nice? No, it's not the pine-scented air freshener in the staff washroom—it's fresh air! Today, we're talking about the equipment responsible for delivering a steady stream of fresh, Grade D air to a technician while working in a booth: their air-breathing device. 

Several manufacturers offer breathing air devices for various applications, from sea divers to mountain climbers. Air is provided through a closed system from a tank or a compressor, like in a paint booth. Various filters are used in conjunction with the device to remove impurities and bacteria, while the device itself regulates the airflow to the user. The air is then delivered along the air line and into the user's mask apparatus. 

In the shop, the benefits are twofold: ensuring the health of the operator in an environment with compromised air quality and enabling that operator to be at their best health, ensuring efficient and consistent work.  

Overall, we've said that the air-breathing system is a pretty simple device. Plug in the compressor, install the filters, hook it all up, and you're ready to go, right? One reality of the air-breathing device is that, while it can filter and deliver clean air, no air-breathing device in existence can manufacture clean air from nothing. Sadly, we're still not quite at full-on Star Trek days where we can have machines will things into existence. As the old maxim says, trash in, trash out. 

This fact is why the intake placement for the system is so important. When placed in an area that has a naturally good source of good air, it allows the system to pull that air through, scrub it free from the particles we can remove with filters that may be coming along for the ride (and to ensure the longevity of the system itself preventing build-up or clogs) and deliver that Grade D air to the operator. 

We've mentioned that quality of air twice, so you might be asking yourself, what exactly is Grade D, and should I be concerned that it's getting a "D" grade? Not exactly straight A's, after all. Well, in that regard there is nothing to worry about as Grade A air is far beyond concerned about a safe breathing environment and is more concerned with ISO certifications in a medical lab setting. At the highest levels of production, like a drug serum that must be guaranteed as sterile, Grade A is required in that environment so that a pharmaceutical company can guarantee, not even minimal, but as close to possible as zero containments are present. 

Grade D air, on the other hand, would be a lot closer to a level 1 or 2 air quality rating, according to Environment Canada. It is nice, clean, mostly particulate-free, and breathable air. 

If you've ever painted a room or even quickly touched a body panel at home, you probably know the side effects of quick exposure to air compromised by paint fumes or particulates. Now imagine that, but you're stuck in a room with it all day and must paint a series of cars perfectly. It's likely not going to be your best day on the job. 

For direct forms of painting, with a brush for example, a mask and proper ventilation in the room are usually all you need to combat this. It's probably easy to imagine why a full-on breathing system is required when you both increase the size of that area being painted and factor in the method being employed is with a spray paint booth. 

On the simple side, inadequate air quality in that environment can lead to things like shortness of breath and even cognitive impairment, like the effects of affixation. In a study done by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, for example, they found that for every increase in fine particulate matter in breathable air (even in tiny amounts), response times slowed in their subjects. On the other side of things, it can lead to long-term and even permanent respiratory issues and neurological damage. 

Preventing this is how a proper investment in a quality, well-set-up air-breathing system for a shop can help protect the health of paint booth operators and enable them to do their best job by helping prevent costly mistakes or inconsistent paintwork.  

This is also why it is so important to invest in quality equipment and trusted brands like SATA® upfront and have a clear repair and maintenance plan in place for that investment. Just like any other vital part of your shop, due diligence today, simple checklists, and planned regular maintenance and cleaning can keep your techs supplied with clean, breathable air for years to come. 

If you have any questions about your air-breathing systems in use, like the best placement for your compressor or setting up a maintenance plan, let us know today.