Look, apologies in advance for the rant, but I've dispensed some autobody advice in the past, so I think I owe a bit of a responsibility to those that are picking it up for the first time (or many times, as it were) to explain why I am currently suffering through a doozy of a solvent-buzz. I've never had one before, and it's pretty brutal. I spent about 5 years in the industry, and I've been at it as a hobbyist for the last few years. Never had a problem until today

Painted my bike today, took about a day of solid work. Rotated parts in and out of the booth from 9am to 8 at night. Spraying primer, basecoat, and clearcoat using a coventional HVHP gun. Wore a mask the entire time (even mixing). Wore gloves the entire time (especially mixing/cleanup). Wore a paint suit. Ventilated the booth with a box fan to blow the air outside the garage. Figured I was doing everything by the book. Zero alcohol or 'medicine' consumed. Just an ibuprofen about 6 pm when it hit.

As near as I can tell, the cartridges ran out of activated carbon. I've been wearing the mask for several jobs, and it's probably been a few months since it got a new set. Recommended replacement interval for heavy use is short, like every couple days. I'm cheap, and the good cartridges are expensive. Long story short, it was a bad idea to push my luck

For reference it's about a ten drink impairment (assuming Canadian beer, so my American friends can multiply that by 1.6) crazy body aches, inability to regulate temp, like a cross between a hangover, a flu, and a solid crack to the head. Not fun. Would not recommend. Chronic exposure is deadly, even incidental acute exposure can cause health problems

If you're not wearing a mask while spraying, you should be - not those little paper things either. You need the C95/P95 masks at a minimum. If you're not replacing your cartridges, you should be. Store them in a ziploc baggy when not in use

Rant over. I'm gonna go sleep this off

Thanks,
Jon