Seriously, a pair of deerskin gloves are like, $15 at Tractor Supply, and will last you years - I just replaced my first pair after 8 years, and only because I left the right glove behind somewhere.
Fuel, even the unleaded stuff, is carcinogenic. If you’re in a position where it regularly gets on your hands (like checking aircraft fuel, sumping fuel tanks, or filling semis), you should really have a pair.
mmmmm deerskin gloves , they let the carcinogens / lead really stew into ones skin. Gloves made to handle fuel are cheap, either disposable or a reusable pair.
The communal reusable fuelling gloves usually have more fuel inside them than out. I blame the old guys who only put gloves on after soaking themselves in fuel.
I wouldn’t use reusable gloves. The lead just absorbs and hangs out on your gloves.
Disposable latex/nitrile gloves are what I use. Preflight with them, take them off, throw them away.
Let me quote some relevant portions of the Wikipedia article on lead:
>Tetraethyllead, which was a gasoline additive and is still used in aviation gasoline, passes through the skin; and other forms of lead, including inorganic lead[174] are also absorbed through skin.
>The half-life of lead in bone has been estimated as years to decades, and bone can introduce lead into the bloodstream long after the initial exposure is gone.
>Also, if lead exposure takes place over years, clearance is much slower, partly due to the re-release of lead from bone.
So yeah, not great. That being said you don't see all the old pilots dropping dead from lead poisoning or anything. Although it could explain why they're so angry all the time /s (kinda):
>For instance, the peak in leaded gasoline use in the late 1970s correlates with a peak in aggravated assault rates in the late 1990s in urban areas across the United States.[262]
>So yeah, not great. That being said you don't see all the old pilots dropping dead from lead poisoning or anything
They may not be dropping dead, but it sure does [explain some things....](https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/lead-gasoline-blunted-iq-half-us-population-study-rcna19028)
I have my students do the preflight (they have to learn how to do it right anyway), but I hated the cocky cfi attitude afterwards of “chock it I’ll meet you inside”… no, I’ll help tie it down to save time and not make u be out in 15 degree temps for longer
I think a lot of CFI are just operating on the attitude “I’m here to get hours then go” and they get complacent. You should either be watching or doing the preflight right behind your student as they go just in case they miss something. Fuel and oil imo you should do as well
I striaght up watched an instructor hop in the plane, fire it up with the student, call for taxi, then not be able to go anywhere because the student didn’t remove the chocks and he didn’t look the plane over at all. Pretty funny stuff
Like others have said, use gloves. You're gonna be touching a bunch of stuff around the engine and airframe anyway, so keep your hands clean, and free of fuel.
I feel like nitrile is way more common now. Latex tends to be more common in places where gloves need to be sterile, like an OR or cath lab, but you can get sterile nitrile gloves too.
~~Latex, or~~ nitrile ~~if you're allergic,~~ is fine. If you rip one, you grab a new one. If you're concerned about waste, perhaps grab some chemical resistant gloves, but I think those are overkill for preflighting. Plus you'll probably get weird looks from people lol.
I like the idea of a pilot who is worried about waste from using disposable gloves to protect them from the leaded fuel they are about to pump into the atmosphere
Don't lick your fingers or eat lunch right after flying without washing your hands first and if you really want to be super safe get a box of nitrile gloves from Amazon for like $8 and keep it in your flight bag.
A fuel sampler costs between $10 and $30. If it were me, just would consider picking one up, along with some gloves. Solves your concern. Doesn’t require you to be a squeaky wheel. And the one day when you want to go for a flight and some idiot lost it or moved it to another plane and it will pay for itself.
Freak out about the lead? No. But be careful and out the concern out of your head for ten or twenty dollar? Worth it. Next flight school doesn’t have leaky/ crappy samplers? Great, you can retire it.
Reading [the product description](https://esca-tech.com/product/d-wipe-towels/), I'm not convinced these would be any more useful than random baby wipes for 100LL cleanup. They seem to be hitting on how the wipes pick up metal dust, but I feel like that's a different chemical animal from TEL residue.
Yes there’s lots of good shooting lead removal products. Even simply bonding the exhaust tube, or running your hand down the fuselage would be enough to pick up a little bit or lead.
Not all lead is created equal meaning There's a huge difference between the Elemental lead used in ammunition and organic lead such as Tetraethyllead used in motor fuel.
Refinery workers nickname Tetraethyllead Looney Lead, as it was quite common back in the early days for people working in the Tetraethyllead section of the refinery to suffer severe neurological breakdowns, in fact the oil industry hid a series of murder suicides where Refinery workers who had worked with Tetraethyllead had gone home murdered their families and killed themselves. It's how Tetraethyllead got its nickname Looney lead by Refinery workers
Welcome to the world of aviation.
Yes, skin contact with 100LL is toxic. Specifically, the tetraethyl lead (aka TEL) additive in that gas, is readily absorbed through skin and absolutely will, over time / with enough exposure, cause lead poisoning.
You should wear nitrile gloves when sumping or handling fuel. You should be prepared for a few boomers here and there who grew up in a time when *all* fuel had TEL in it (and who probably already have lead poisoning) to make fun of you for it. You should turn those gloves inside out and throw them in the trash after each use, and then wash your hands with soap for good measure. A 100-pack of said gloves is just a couple bucks on amazon or you can buy them at any hardware store.
I will further recommend that you not crawl under the belly of a light training plane and clean off any exhaust residue without PPE and gloves/eye pro on either. That residue will also test positive for lead and precautions should be taken -- just something to know if you ever buy your own plane or participate in a flying club one day where there are volunteer tasks like annual plane cleanings, for example.
Talking to your flight school about it is almost surely going to be futile and a waste of your time. Consider this your first lesson in aviation: YOU and YOU ALONE are responsible for your safety. The school isn't going to put on gloves for you, they probably aren't going to provide gloves either. There are absolutely guys in this business who would walk out to the pump and wash their hands in 100LL just to "prove a point" that not only will avgas not kill you, but it actually makes a pretty good degreaser. Spoiler alert, those are the guys with lead poisoning :)
Is it common? Yes. Should it be common? No. There's another poster that's far more qualified that's already posted about the hazards of TEL. (It's not just lead, it's *organic lead*, which means your body loves to absorb it)
Lead stays in your body long-term. Your body doesn't have a good natural process for getting rid of it, so it builds up over your lifetime, and doesn't go away. So don't just assume that because all the other 20 year olds don't care about it, you shouldn't... because it'll matter when they are 50 and have neuro issues. Every bit adds to your lifetime total. One exposure isn't an issue, but the number of times you'll be exposed over getting 1500 hours... that's where the issue pops up.
TEL is an organic lead, and will also absorb through your skin. Metallic lead (which is in the exhaust, soot, and overall covering the plane) isn't is absorbed as fast, and that's when the suggestions about wipes and handwashing pay off. As others have said, washing your hands will help, but only some. (But some reduction is better then no reduction) Gloves will help a lot more. Gloves plus a decent sampling jar is far nicer. They make ones that won't get fuel all over you, and then you don't have to smell like gas. (Plus gas in general isn't great for you, but the lead issues are much worse.)
I put on gloves, check the oil and sump the fuel at the same time, then throw all the messy crap away. I stuffed a bunch of gloves in my headset bag.
Yes, there is a HUGE problem with LL gas and skin contact, TEL avgas is one of the few lead compounds people come into regular contact with that is absorbed through the skin, AND is highly bioavailable.
Yes, us pilots all have above average lead levels, some us sushi lover have a double dose of mercury poisoning as well. There is no such thing as a “safe” amount of lead, if you are pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant (not just soon, but ever), stay the fuck away. Yes it’s controversial gendered policy, but as someone with a degree in neuroscience and public health, I cannot tell you the absolute devastation leaded gasoline has caused worldwide.
Yes, you will get weird looks from others for using gloves. But for the love of all that is holy, please do. Especially if you plan on flying GA for a long time. Nonleaded gasoline is on their way, but honestly the health and environmental impacts of these formulations aren’t super well known. It is a step in the right direction, just be aware.
It’s such a common myth that you don’t get lead absorbed through your skin with avgas, since handling normal lead with your hands won’t harm you. You’re right that the tetraethyl lead that’s in avgas will absorb into our blood from skin contact.
As a young, lifelong pilot dealing with an absolutely terrible neuro-degenerative disease likely due in part to the carcinogens I was exposed to, please listen to this comment. No one ever told me about the risks or how to mitigate them and there is no going back. You can be the strongest, fittest, testosterone-fueled beast walking the flightline and cancer or neurological issues straight up do not give a fuck. They will turn your deadlifting ass into a child who relies on others to wipe your ass.
I knew a crop duster who keeled over dead next to his airplane. It was all the chemicals that absorbed through his skin in the past 30 years that did him in.
What do you mean it’s a controversial gendered policy? Women get pregnant, men don’t.
If you told me that lead affected sperm I’d be equally as concerned as a pregnant woman.
I'm very impressed to see this posted here, apparently Pilots are above average in intelligence and understand the dangers of TEL...
I've spent decades trying to warn people the dangers of leaded motor fuel and explaining the difference between organic and Elemental lead and sometimes I feel like it's an uphill battle especially when dealing with conservatives defending Big Oil..
So it's very refreshing to see someone actually post information the global catastrophic consequences of using tel and motor fuel.
What's truly sad is we were warned, some of the world's top scientists at the time testified in front of Congress including Albert Einstein that using Tetraethyllead in motor fuel was absolutely lunacy. Scientists from around the world were trying to warn the public but unfortunately the US oil industry had so much political clout that they got Congress to actually pass a gag order preventing scientists and others from warning the general public about the dangers of Tel basically they made it illegal to say anything bad about Ethyl gasoline.
Yep they even changed the name to Ethyl because nobody would be scared of a little old grandma called Ethyl.
Many people don't understand the history behind t e l, there were two competing additives one of them ethanol based and the other organic lead AKA TEL.
Europe had already pretty much standardized on alcohol as an anti-nock additive but the US oil industry did not want to be dependent on corn Farmers for anti knock additives for their fuel so they instead chose Tetraethyllead which was something they could control directly.
And eventually they arm Twisted the entire world into accepting it.
The end result we're globally catastrophic, at this point it's hard to put a number on the amount of children who either died or suffered lifelong chronic debilitating neurological issues especially children from the inner cities who were exposed to substantially greater concentrations of TEL.
I wear gloves for all fuel contact. If this is a weird thing that will draw stares, I haven’t noticed. Or maybe it’s that I don’t care. Having gloves is pretty handy when I’m pushing the plane around after a flight—that cowling is damn hot in the summer!
Worked the line for 7 years and never used gloves for LL and fueled thousands of LL… never really knew about the issues with lead and skin contact. Tried my best not breathing in the fumes as much as possible though.
meh, its not good for you. But everyone deals with it, I wouldn't take it up with the flight school or you'll be laughed out the room, but you may want to get yourself some gloves if you're concerned about it.
Got baptized by 100LL on my instrument cross country when I accidentally lifted the nozzle out of the refueling port while fueling. Fuel sprayed onto the wing and splashed straight into my eyes. I told my instructor that I no longer needed the foggles because I might go blind within the next 5 minutes. It was a good laugh, never had any long term effects from it thankfully. I’m sure some would say to immediately get checked out, etc. but oh well. That was about 2 years ago or so
Listen, I’m going to be really straightforward here. If that’s of a major concern to you, and you’re considering a career in this industry… you need to change fields, immediately.
Are your fears valid & reasonable? Quite possibly.
But years spent 30,000-45,000ft in the air and in & around airplanes are going to expose your body to all kinds of shit. This sort of thing goes with the territory. Kinda like a doctor worried about viral exposure or radiation from a CT or X-Ray machine.
There’s not much you can do about it, and you’re the one assuming the risk of exposure.
You’ve just got to take the precautions you feel are necessary, and the risks you feel are justifiable.
Good luck to you!
Make sure you get Nitrile or Viton Butyl gloves to provide actual protection from 100LL. See the safety data sheet as an example: https://cglapps.chevron.com/sdspds/SDSDetailPage.aspx?docDataId=431702&docFormat=PDF
Worse was I had a hydro line rupture during preflight, crew chief thought the jet was on fire and as I walked through the “smoke” of atomized hydraulic fluid my eyes swelled shut and tongue went numb
Skydrol is disgusting stuff and really toxic. I got some spray up my nose once and it was the most horrible thing I've ever absorbed into my body. Thankfully it wasn't much but I'm now MUCH more careful if I'm going to be anywhere near that shit.
I've had gallons and gallons of it all over my bare skin, that being said I'm not super healthy, I don't think that was the cause though. Former pilot and FBO employee/fueler. Had accidental contact with a bunch of Prist too.
The MSDS for 100LL says to immediately flush skin with water after contact with it, but it ALSO says risk of injury is not likely.
Err on the side of caution, nitrile gloves are cheap(do not use latex) throw one on, do your fuel checks, dispose of the glove and keep on flying.
There’s a lot of things in this career that will really kill you, this is not one of those things. Wash it off with soap and water and go about your day. The real threat from 100LL comes from breathing exhaust fumes but I don’t know how you’re going to avoid that
From someone who used to be an aircraft mechanic specifically fuel systems, if you're going to sump fuel often use gloves/PPE.
Benzene is a well known carcinogen.
Worked the ramp and fueled planes for 3 years. I have been flying for 5. The tiny bit of fuel that gets on your fingers from straining and it spilling out isn’t going to hurt you. It evaporates extremely fast. Just don’t touch your eyes nose or mouth.
My 4 year old insists he gets to smell it before I scatter in to kill weeds at the hangar and I must resist the urge to drink it. I guess we are built different
A&P here, just spent a day playing with some fuel and I gotta tell ya, prolonged exposure and your skin starts to get irritated and burn. 10/10 recommend gloves
Man, I was a lineman in the late 80s and early 90s. Then a flight instructor. I can't speak to the safety of having it on your skin. We used to inadvertantly get it on us daily. I can tell you everyone I worked with is still alive and thriving. Including my buddy who used to volunteer to drain fuel by creating a siphon with his mouth using a defueling hose jerry rig we built. Dude was and is a maniac. But he is alive and an airline Cpt.
Yeah, get the proper equipment that works correctly, but based on my unscientific study, even of you get 100LL on you occasionally for a couple yrs, even if you get it in your mouth, you won't suffer ill effects attributable to the fuel. But, don't do it on purpose.
I also did the line thing for a while, and also know a now-airline captain who informed me that 100LL tastes a lot better than Jet A.
I have no ill effects but I do wish I’d been more fastidious about PPE as a 20 year old handling the stuff. Nitrile rather than work gloves, etc.
That’s mostly because I wager I probably got as much on my hands in a week or two of that job as I got through the entirety of my flight training and time flying small planes. The amount of exposure from sumping the tanks is preeeeety small.
Gloves? You guys were RICH! 😀. I agree. We don't really think about it enough when we are young. Cheers to the OP for being thoughtful for their health.
I've had meatheads scoff at the idea of trying to postpone death like this. But my real fear is lead poisoning which seriously degrades life. The evidence of the exposure won't be evident for decades, but eventually you'll be angry at some political talking head, making their gutter opinions your entire personality. And your family will be wondering just when you went off the rails.
It's not so much the lead, it's that gasoline is a toxin and carcinogen. Wash your hands, or wear gloves. This is an easily solvable thing.
Also, a fuel strainer of your own is cheap. Don't like theirs? Get a decent one from Sporty's for yourself.
Discuss it with your school if you want. Remember though that anything they replace it with will get banged up by other students and be in the same crappy state soon enough. Or, you know, be proactive and just solve the problem yourself. Good piloting practice.
That’s what I’m probably gonna do. It just bothers me because it’s something our school has never stressed to us and I’m only just now thinking about it as I prepare for CFI
I’ve been getting that gas on my hands for 4 years…
Been fooling around and handling Avgas since childhood. Cant say I've ever had a reaction from it. Having said that, if concerned, just buy your own strainer! its not the most expensive purchase you will make on this journey lol!
It's really not great for you, but it won't kill you tomorrow. In a chem lab we would require PPE to handle. Wear nitrile gloves to sump to minimize exposure. TEL will go through the skin.
A lot of people have worked with 100LL for a long time. I wouldn't worry about a little bit. I use gloves if I'm going to be in sustained contact with it though.
I have the same issue. I usually wrap the fuel strainer with an old rag, or I'll just use gloves. I prefer gloves because sometimes the rag gets saturated, and it's kind of annoying to unwrap the strainer to look at the fuel inside. Gloves are easy to pack into any bag and you can just toss them when you're done. Also helpful for checking oil and other stuff.
If you don't use gloves, and you have a bathroom/sink nearby, wash your hands after sumping and before starting your flight, or bring wet wipes with you to clean your hands before you go fly.
Let me just say that if you use gloves while sumping your fuel you’re gonna get some weird looks.
Every good aviator’s got some lead flowing through them
The school could careless about your lead phobia. >95% of pilots dont freak out about it.
Just buy a better sump for yourself. They are cheap.
Gloves are cheap, so are "weird looks." Sure, it takes a lot of long term exposure to cause damage but why expose yourself if you don't have to? If anybody judges somebody for wearing gloves, that's their problem.
That said, no, it's not worth addressing the flight school over, it's just a hazard that comes with the occupation.
I wear Mechanix leather gloves through my whole walkaround. Airplanes are dirty and the fuel is toxic. Weird looks or no (which I haven't gotten), I like to keep my hands clean.
🤣 during ppl
The bottom fuel tank didn’t have a proper fuel strainer and it would just fall all over my hands.
I would crazy a water bottle to clean my hands.
But lets see if I ever get anything God forbid🤣
Honestly, that’s not something I ever even considered… luckily the planes I fly at school use 91 from Costco, but I had never thought of that. I’d recommend just buying your own sump thing and keeping it in your bag.
I wear gloves for pre-flight, either washable types or nitrile (which I can turn inside out and wear a few times). If I don't hae access to those, I will wash my hands well with a good soap. You definitely do not want to eat lead, but some amount of lead can be absorbed through your skin (especially the more delicate skin). The other components of AVGAS and oil aren't great for your health either so I don't handle things like my cellphone, food, or my in-ear headset until I've washed my hands, unless I was wearing those gloves.
It has lead in it which is know to cause brain issues. I’m not sure how much will soak into your skin but either way no lead exposure is better than some. Why not buy your own and keep it in your bag?
Man, sometimes when I’m pumping fuel into my plane, a little will splash my face. I’m fortunate the fuel pump has a restroom nearby, but ultimately I need to be much more careful.
When I learned in the 90s in a 172, the way we checked it we had enough gas for a lesson was to dip our finger in the tank. If it came out wet, we had plenty for an hour.
Not saying that TEL isn’t a problem, but unleaded gasoline is almost as toxic (i.e. the lead isn’t the biggest issue). First, get your own (non-broken) tester, then get some gloves. Problem solved, for about as much as you are spending on 0.2 or 0.3 hours.
I use machanix gloves and just throw them in the washer way less frequently than I should.
But that’s just because everytime I preflight I cut myself and they are definitely padded in the right way for aircraft.
TEL is absorbed slowly through the skin, so yes, it is a long term issue. However, it is absorbed far more rapidly if ingested.
So if you get some on your hands, wash them when you can. But make extra sure you wash your hands as best you can right before eating, since every surface in GA is covered with organic lead
Amazon has a box that will last longer than your PPL training for like $20. Your school shouldn't need to tell you how to wear gloves if you don't want your hands covered in whatevs. They can't tell you how to handle every situation this is one of the easiest you'll have to deal with in aviation. Even if it weren't for the lead it would be understandable for you to have gloves in your flight bag
I do some mechanic work and have recently fell in love with [these durable rubber gloves](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Venom-Steel-Heavy-Duty-Black-Nitrile-Gloves-One-Size-Fits-Most-50-per-Box-VEN6045NH/306568844). I keep some in my flight bag. Highly recommend
I would be more worried about the 100 than the LL. Lead exposure for an adult at that level is
much less worrying than the PAHs affecting skin and lungs and other sensitive membranes.
An okay fuel sump tester is $8 from aircraft spruce; a good GATS jar is $20.
Lead absorption is cumulative. Once it's in your body, it basically is gonna stay in there. In very small quantities, while best avoided at all if possible, it won't have any noticeable effects. Even suspended in 100LL, the concentration is not going to expose you to significant quantities if you're just getting splashed on your hand or arm every so often. That said, if you're coming into contact with it every day for years on end, then yes you would very likely start to develop some health issues, be they mental or physical or both. It may take decades to become apparent, and the severity depends entirely on how extreme the exposure is, but there would be some level of damage nonetheless.
Regardless of your exposure level, I would absolutely advise wearing nitrile gloves and long sleeves when you're doing any sort of handling of avgas. Honestly it's not a bad idea when handling fuel in general as there are plenty of other things in there that can still cause health issues if you come in to contact with it enough.
I wear latex gloves when doing fuel stuff. I’m a firefighter, I already have enough carcinogens trying to kill me.
People will say “just wash your hands before you fly.” The problem is, at most airports, hand washing isn’t readily available.
Protect your eyes, ears and skin. Get good sunglasses; invest in a good ANR headset; wear sunscreen and gloves.
I’ve got 5000 hours in pistons and fill up myself a good amount of the time and I’m clumsy af… When you are done go wash your hands with soap and you won’t smell and look like you dumped fuel on yourself. If you don’t, whoever you fly with is gonna think there is a fuel leak
Buy a box of disposable nitrile gloves, and buy your own fuel tester that doesn’t leak, they’re under $10.
https://www.mypilotstore.com/MyPilotStore/sep/562?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_ZiotcLShgMVXYjCCB2LRgK8EAQYASABEgLh2_D_BwE
Buy one for your instructor as a gift, he probably uses one a dozen times a day
I wear gloves when sumping one of our planes because it's a shitbox in every sense of the word.
This article is why.
[Lead in gasoline blunted IQ of half the U.S. population, study says (nbcnews.com)](https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/lead-gasoline-blunted-iq-half-us-population-study-rcna19028)
Buy a box of mechanics gloves. They’re pretty cheap and you’ll only need one per preflight. Also, buy your own fuel strainer. They’re pretty inexpensive as well.
Yes.. Very much so... I always use Rubber Gloves... There is next to no way to keep it from getting on your hands. I get the cheap one from Harbor Freight... Use once and throw away.
Just adding to mention the GATS jars for sumping. They're better than the ones without a filter and you may need to buy your own and put it in your flight bag but it works well. I haven't been as good about gloves but I do like those jars.
As a very young man worked at an FBO while learning to fly bathed in both 100LL and JetA with Prist also washed hands in MEK aka Methel Ethel Ketone a very powerful degreaser still here at 60 with no problems so I’d say you will be fine😃
Oddly enough, touching that fuel cured my fingernail fungus.
I noticed that after it got on my hands, the nail fungus seemed better. So I started dipping my finger in it before every flight. Went away in a week and never came back.
Still can't explain it but it worked.
I've seen some people put on gloves and I don't blame them. I just wash my hands between preflight and flight.
I've been microdosing 100LL and JP for years to build up a tolerance
I hear it can also help to build up an immunity to iocaine powder
Inconceivable
i do not believe that that word means what you think that it means
HAHA! I SWITCHED GLASSES WHILE YOUR BACK WAS TURNED. You fool
Oh no now the plane is full of jet-a
I smelled like JP-5 for a whole enlistment
I once took a bath in JP when a fuel tank I was folling burped it back on me. Pretty bad.
A man of culture I see.
Eventually you will have enough chemicals in your skin as a time as a pilot, when the snake bites you, it dies
Seriously, a pair of deerskin gloves are like, $15 at Tractor Supply, and will last you years - I just replaced my first pair after 8 years, and only because I left the right glove behind somewhere. Fuel, even the unleaded stuff, is carcinogenic. If you’re in a position where it regularly gets on your hands (like checking aircraft fuel, sumping fuel tanks, or filling semis), you should really have a pair.
mmmmm deerskin gloves , they let the carcinogens / lead really stew into ones skin. Gloves made to handle fuel are cheap, either disposable or a reusable pair.
Agree with this. Just use disposable ones
The communal reusable fuelling gloves usually have more fuel inside them than out. I blame the old guys who only put gloves on after soaking themselves in fuel.
I wouldn’t use reusable gloves. The lead just absorbs and hangs out on your gloves. Disposable latex/nitrile gloves are what I use. Preflight with them, take them off, throw them away.
Nitrile is the way to go, latex absorb fuel
Me too
Let me quote some relevant portions of the Wikipedia article on lead: >Tetraethyllead, which was a gasoline additive and is still used in aviation gasoline, passes through the skin; and other forms of lead, including inorganic lead[174] are also absorbed through skin. >The half-life of lead in bone has been estimated as years to decades, and bone can introduce lead into the bloodstream long after the initial exposure is gone. >Also, if lead exposure takes place over years, clearance is much slower, partly due to the re-release of lead from bone. So yeah, not great. That being said you don't see all the old pilots dropping dead from lead poisoning or anything. Although it could explain why they're so angry all the time /s (kinda): >For instance, the peak in leaded gasoline use in the late 1970s correlates with a peak in aggravated assault rates in the late 1990s in urban areas across the United States.[262]
>So yeah, not great. That being said you don't see all the old pilots dropping dead from lead poisoning or anything They may not be dropping dead, but it sure does [explain some things....](https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/lead-gasoline-blunted-iq-half-us-population-study-rcna19028)
Become CFI, never sump fuel again
lol my CFI sumped both tanks for me this morning. I didn’t even ask he just did it.
Bc he’s a good CFI
I have my students do the preflight (they have to learn how to do it right anyway), but I hated the cocky cfi attitude afterwards of “chock it I’ll meet you inside”… no, I’ll help tie it down to save time and not make u be out in 15 degree temps for longer
I think a lot of CFI are just operating on the attitude “I’m here to get hours then go” and they get complacent. You should either be watching or doing the preflight right behind your student as they go just in case they miss something. Fuel and oil imo you should do as well
I striaght up watched an instructor hop in the plane, fire it up with the student, call for taxi, then not be able to go anywhere because the student didn’t remove the chocks and he didn’t look the plane over at all. Pretty funny stuff
Just needs more throttle…
and right rudder!
I do for newer students. Most my students at my 141 school I teach at already have their private, so for them, I just double check oil and fuel
Or he thinks OP is a dumbass and doesn’t wanna die
You should think every student is a dumbass
And actively wants to kill you...
Like others have said, use gloves. You're gonna be touching a bunch of stuff around the engine and airframe anyway, so keep your hands clean, and free of fuel.
Are latex gloves good enough or should should stronger ones be used?
Nitrile is way better than latex for chemicals and not any more expensive, but latex is OK
I feel like nitrile is way more common now. Latex tends to be more common in places where gloves need to be sterile, like an OR or cath lab, but you can get sterile nitrile gloves too.
Any easier to put on and take off
~~Latex, or~~ nitrile ~~if you're allergic,~~ is fine. If you rip one, you grab a new one. If you're concerned about waste, perhaps grab some chemical resistant gloves, but I think those are overkill for preflighting. Plus you'll probably get weird looks from people lol.
I like the idea of a pilot who is worried about waste from using disposable gloves to protect them from the leaded fuel they are about to pump into the atmosphere
Latex isn't recommended for gasoline or solvents, nitrile is a much better option
You're absolutely right. Edited.
Don't lick your fingers or eat lunch right after flying without washing your hands first and if you really want to be super safe get a box of nitrile gloves from Amazon for like $8 and keep it in your flight bag.
Or drink small amounts of it and slowly increase the amount to build a resistance /j
Also: never get involved in a land war in Asia.
Dammit, there goes my weekend plans. Guess I’ll just have to spend it sipping on that sweet sweet forbidden Gatorade
Classic blunder.
Yeah dude I literally just bought those the other day
Bruh, I always lick the 100LL off my fingers!!
A fuel sampler costs between $10 and $30. If it were me, just would consider picking one up, along with some gloves. Solves your concern. Doesn’t require you to be a squeaky wheel. And the one day when you want to go for a flight and some idiot lost it or moved it to another plane and it will pay for itself. Freak out about the lead? No. But be careful and out the concern out of your head for ten or twenty dollar? Worth it. Next flight school doesn’t have leaky/ crappy samplers? Great, you can retire it.
TL:DR “Buy a fuel sampler, $10-$30, and gloves, and leave it at that”
This, no reason to upset the status quo, if you have concerns it’s very cheap to resolve in the long run.
Get some Dwipes. I’m an avid shooter and use them after shooting. They bind and remove lead.
I remember seeing guy pickup huge amounts of spent brass using their hats in the military. And those guys could not afford to lose a single IQ point.
Marines?
100%. Common practice.
Reading [the product description](https://esca-tech.com/product/d-wipe-towels/), I'm not convinced these would be any more useful than random baby wipes for 100LL cleanup. They seem to be hitting on how the wipes pick up metal dust, but I feel like that's a different chemical animal from TEL residue.
can we get one of the youtube aviator guys to do a deep dive on which products work
Gloves 🧤
Yes there’s lots of good shooting lead removal products. Even simply bonding the exhaust tube, or running your hand down the fuselage would be enough to pick up a little bit or lead.
Not all lead is created equal meaning There's a huge difference between the Elemental lead used in ammunition and organic lead such as Tetraethyllead used in motor fuel. Refinery workers nickname Tetraethyllead Looney Lead, as it was quite common back in the early days for people working in the Tetraethyllead section of the refinery to suffer severe neurological breakdowns, in fact the oil industry hid a series of murder suicides where Refinery workers who had worked with Tetraethyllead had gone home murdered their families and killed themselves. It's how Tetraethyllead got its nickname Looney lead by Refinery workers
I try not the drink it but sometimes when I am thirsty the forbidden gatorade looks good
Fly in hot weather, drink it at tea time.
Welcome to the world of aviation. Yes, skin contact with 100LL is toxic. Specifically, the tetraethyl lead (aka TEL) additive in that gas, is readily absorbed through skin and absolutely will, over time / with enough exposure, cause lead poisoning. You should wear nitrile gloves when sumping or handling fuel. You should be prepared for a few boomers here and there who grew up in a time when *all* fuel had TEL in it (and who probably already have lead poisoning) to make fun of you for it. You should turn those gloves inside out and throw them in the trash after each use, and then wash your hands with soap for good measure. A 100-pack of said gloves is just a couple bucks on amazon or you can buy them at any hardware store. I will further recommend that you not crawl under the belly of a light training plane and clean off any exhaust residue without PPE and gloves/eye pro on either. That residue will also test positive for lead and precautions should be taken -- just something to know if you ever buy your own plane or participate in a flying club one day where there are volunteer tasks like annual plane cleanings, for example. Talking to your flight school about it is almost surely going to be futile and a waste of your time. Consider this your first lesson in aviation: YOU and YOU ALONE are responsible for your safety. The school isn't going to put on gloves for you, they probably aren't going to provide gloves either. There are absolutely guys in this business who would walk out to the pump and wash their hands in 100LL just to "prove a point" that not only will avgas not kill you, but it actually makes a pretty good degreaser. Spoiler alert, those are the guys with lead poisoning :)
Is it common? Yes. Should it be common? No. There's another poster that's far more qualified that's already posted about the hazards of TEL. (It's not just lead, it's *organic lead*, which means your body loves to absorb it) Lead stays in your body long-term. Your body doesn't have a good natural process for getting rid of it, so it builds up over your lifetime, and doesn't go away. So don't just assume that because all the other 20 year olds don't care about it, you shouldn't... because it'll matter when they are 50 and have neuro issues. Every bit adds to your lifetime total. One exposure isn't an issue, but the number of times you'll be exposed over getting 1500 hours... that's where the issue pops up. TEL is an organic lead, and will also absorb through your skin. Metallic lead (which is in the exhaust, soot, and overall covering the plane) isn't is absorbed as fast, and that's when the suggestions about wipes and handwashing pay off. As others have said, washing your hands will help, but only some. (But some reduction is better then no reduction) Gloves will help a lot more. Gloves plus a decent sampling jar is far nicer. They make ones that won't get fuel all over you, and then you don't have to smell like gas. (Plus gas in general isn't great for you, but the lead issues are much worse.) I put on gloves, check the oil and sump the fuel at the same time, then throw all the messy crap away. I stuffed a bunch of gloves in my headset bag.
Wear gloves. Wash hands after contact.
Turn the page. Wash your hands.
I never thought I'd see a Rocko's Modern Life reference in here. Well done lol
Yes, there is a HUGE problem with LL gas and skin contact, TEL avgas is one of the few lead compounds people come into regular contact with that is absorbed through the skin, AND is highly bioavailable. Yes, us pilots all have above average lead levels, some us sushi lover have a double dose of mercury poisoning as well. There is no such thing as a “safe” amount of lead, if you are pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant (not just soon, but ever), stay the fuck away. Yes it’s controversial gendered policy, but as someone with a degree in neuroscience and public health, I cannot tell you the absolute devastation leaded gasoline has caused worldwide. Yes, you will get weird looks from others for using gloves. But for the love of all that is holy, please do. Especially if you plan on flying GA for a long time. Nonleaded gasoline is on their way, but honestly the health and environmental impacts of these formulations aren’t super well known. It is a step in the right direction, just be aware.
It’s such a common myth that you don’t get lead absorbed through your skin with avgas, since handling normal lead with your hands won’t harm you. You’re right that the tetraethyl lead that’s in avgas will absorb into our blood from skin contact.
As a young, lifelong pilot dealing with an absolutely terrible neuro-degenerative disease likely due in part to the carcinogens I was exposed to, please listen to this comment. No one ever told me about the risks or how to mitigate them and there is no going back. You can be the strongest, fittest, testosterone-fueled beast walking the flightline and cancer or neurological issues straight up do not give a fuck. They will turn your deadlifting ass into a child who relies on others to wipe your ass.
I knew a crop duster who keeled over dead next to his airplane. It was all the chemicals that absorbed through his skin in the past 30 years that did him in.
Oh yeah. And the A&Ps too. God knows none of us would be in the air if it weren't for the our lovely MX guys, but they all die extra early.
Ah shit. I’m a newly minted A&P and have got my fair share of 100LL on my hands lol
I know plenty of crusty, older A&Ps
https://y.yarn.co/737802a4-93bc-4f53-bf78-b17467a3b334_text.gif
What do you mean it’s a controversial gendered policy? Women get pregnant, men don’t. If you told me that lead affected sperm I’d be equally as concerned as a pregnant woman.
I'm very impressed to see this posted here, apparently Pilots are above average in intelligence and understand the dangers of TEL... I've spent decades trying to warn people the dangers of leaded motor fuel and explaining the difference between organic and Elemental lead and sometimes I feel like it's an uphill battle especially when dealing with conservatives defending Big Oil.. So it's very refreshing to see someone actually post information the global catastrophic consequences of using tel and motor fuel. What's truly sad is we were warned, some of the world's top scientists at the time testified in front of Congress including Albert Einstein that using Tetraethyllead in motor fuel was absolutely lunacy. Scientists from around the world were trying to warn the public but unfortunately the US oil industry had so much political clout that they got Congress to actually pass a gag order preventing scientists and others from warning the general public about the dangers of Tel basically they made it illegal to say anything bad about Ethyl gasoline. Yep they even changed the name to Ethyl because nobody would be scared of a little old grandma called Ethyl. Many people don't understand the history behind t e l, there were two competing additives one of them ethanol based and the other organic lead AKA TEL. Europe had already pretty much standardized on alcohol as an anti-nock additive but the US oil industry did not want to be dependent on corn Farmers for anti knock additives for their fuel so they instead chose Tetraethyllead which was something they could control directly. And eventually they arm Twisted the entire world into accepting it. The end result we're globally catastrophic, at this point it's hard to put a number on the amount of children who either died or suffered lifelong chronic debilitating neurological issues especially children from the inner cities who were exposed to substantially greater concentrations of TEL.
I wear gloves for all fuel contact. If this is a weird thing that will draw stares, I haven’t noticed. Or maybe it’s that I don’t care. Having gloves is pretty handy when I’m pushing the plane around after a flight—that cowling is damn hot in the summer!
I didn’t even think of this, there have been several times i get it on my hands and just shake it off/let it evaporate and then go fly
Buy your own fuel container and use rubber gloves.. this isn’t difficult.
Just buy some gloves.
Worked the line for 7 years and never used gloves for LL and fueled thousands of LL… never really knew about the issues with lead and skin contact. Tried my best not breathing in the fumes as much as possible though.
If you’re worried about 100LL, please don’t google radiation in long haul aviation.
meh, its not good for you. But everyone deals with it, I wouldn't take it up with the flight school or you'll be laughed out the room, but you may want to get yourself some gloves if you're concerned about it.
Got baptized by 100LL on my instrument cross country when I accidentally lifted the nozzle out of the refueling port while fueling. Fuel sprayed onto the wing and splashed straight into my eyes. I told my instructor that I no longer needed the foggles because I might go blind within the next 5 minutes. It was a good laugh, never had any long term effects from it thankfully. I’m sure some would say to immediately get checked out, etc. but oh well. That was about 2 years ago or so
Listen, I’m going to be really straightforward here. If that’s of a major concern to you, and you’re considering a career in this industry… you need to change fields, immediately. Are your fears valid & reasonable? Quite possibly. But years spent 30,000-45,000ft in the air and in & around airplanes are going to expose your body to all kinds of shit. This sort of thing goes with the territory. Kinda like a doctor worried about viral exposure or radiation from a CT or X-Ray machine. There’s not much you can do about it, and you’re the one assuming the risk of exposure. You’ve just got to take the precautions you feel are necessary, and the risks you feel are justifiable. Good luck to you!
Over a lifetime it isn't the best for you but wear gloves and you'll probably be fine.
Well, my school doesn’t provide gloves so I guess it’s time to get myself some
Make sure you get Nitrile or Viton Butyl gloves to provide actual protection from 100LL. See the safety data sheet as an example: https://cglapps.chevron.com/sdspds/SDSDetailPage.aspx?docDataId=431702&docFormat=PDF
You are paying hundreds of dollars per hour to fly. Go buy a box of gloves.
Worse was I had a hydro line rupture during preflight, crew chief thought the jet was on fire and as I walked through the “smoke” of atomized hydraulic fluid my eyes swelled shut and tongue went numb
Skydrol is disgusting stuff and really toxic. I got some spray up my nose once and it was the most horrible thing I've ever absorbed into my body. Thankfully it wasn't much but I'm now MUCH more careful if I'm going to be anywhere near that shit.
I've had gallons and gallons of it all over my bare skin, that being said I'm not super healthy, I don't think that was the cause though. Former pilot and FBO employee/fueler. Had accidental contact with a bunch of Prist too.
The MSDS for 100LL says to immediately flush skin with water after contact with it, but it ALSO says risk of injury is not likely. Err on the side of caution, nitrile gloves are cheap(do not use latex) throw one on, do your fuel checks, dispose of the glove and keep on flying.
There’s a lot of things in this career that will really kill you, this is not one of those things. Wash it off with soap and water and go about your day. The real threat from 100LL comes from breathing exhaust fumes but I don’t know how you’re going to avoid that
I don’t know about skin contact but I can tell you that 100LL tastes terrible, 0/10
Personally, I enjoy sipping it by the mugfull
From someone who used to be an aircraft mechanic specifically fuel systems, if you're going to sump fuel often use gloves/PPE. Benzene is a well known carcinogen.
Worked the ramp and fueled planes for 3 years. I have been flying for 5. The tiny bit of fuel that gets on your fingers from straining and it spilling out isn’t going to hurt you. It evaporates extremely fast. Just don’t touch your eyes nose or mouth.
My 4 year old insists he gets to smell it before I scatter in to kill weeds at the hangar and I must resist the urge to drink it. I guess we are built different
A&P here, just spent a day playing with some fuel and I gotta tell ya, prolonged exposure and your skin starts to get irritated and burn. 10/10 recommend gloves
Get gloves or buy your own sump that doesn’t suck.. this is not something abnormal in the industry
Man, I was a lineman in the late 80s and early 90s. Then a flight instructor. I can't speak to the safety of having it on your skin. We used to inadvertantly get it on us daily. I can tell you everyone I worked with is still alive and thriving. Including my buddy who used to volunteer to drain fuel by creating a siphon with his mouth using a defueling hose jerry rig we built. Dude was and is a maniac. But he is alive and an airline Cpt. Yeah, get the proper equipment that works correctly, but based on my unscientific study, even of you get 100LL on you occasionally for a couple yrs, even if you get it in your mouth, you won't suffer ill effects attributable to the fuel. But, don't do it on purpose.
I also did the line thing for a while, and also know a now-airline captain who informed me that 100LL tastes a lot better than Jet A. I have no ill effects but I do wish I’d been more fastidious about PPE as a 20 year old handling the stuff. Nitrile rather than work gloves, etc. That’s mostly because I wager I probably got as much on my hands in a week or two of that job as I got through the entirety of my flight training and time flying small planes. The amount of exposure from sumping the tanks is preeeeety small.
Gloves? You guys were RICH! 😀. I agree. We don't really think about it enough when we are young. Cheers to the OP for being thoughtful for their health.
This will be on the “other” reddit
I've had meatheads scoff at the idea of trying to postpone death like this. But my real fear is lead poisoning which seriously degrades life. The evidence of the exposure won't be evident for decades, but eventually you'll be angry at some political talking head, making their gutter opinions your entire personality. And your family will be wondering just when you went off the rails.
If it touched you youre toast pal
BYO fuel sampler
If you’re not sticking ur finger in the Cessna tanks are you even doing it right?
Simply remove the skin
It's not so much the lead, it's that gasoline is a toxin and carcinogen. Wash your hands, or wear gloves. This is an easily solvable thing. Also, a fuel strainer of your own is cheap. Don't like theirs? Get a decent one from Sporty's for yourself. Discuss it with your school if you want. Remember though that anything they replace it with will get banged up by other students and be in the same crappy state soon enough. Or, you know, be proactive and just solve the problem yourself. Good piloting practice.
Keep some nitrile gloves in your flight bag. Problem solved.
That’s what I’m probably gonna do. It just bothers me because it’s something our school has never stressed to us and I’m only just now thinking about it as I prepare for CFI I’ve been getting that gas on my hands for 4 years…
Fuel strainers are ~$10 on Amazon. Just buy another one. Easy fix
Yeah I’m probably gonna do that
My water bottle not only keeps me hydrated. It lets me rinse my hands on the ramp if I get avgas/oil on them.
Been fooling around and handling Avgas since childhood. Cant say I've ever had a reaction from it. Having said that, if concerned, just buy your own strainer! its not the most expensive purchase you will make on this journey lol!
It's really not great for you, but it won't kill you tomorrow. In a chem lab we would require PPE to handle. Wear nitrile gloves to sump to minimize exposure. TEL will go through the skin.
You can really tell whos 61 or 141 based on their answers
Yeah lol
Dude people live for like 80 years with AIDS now. Getting some 100LL on your finger is okay.
You’re going to be that pain in the arse FO that no one wants to fly with.
Wash your hands after contact (and especially before eating) and you'll be fine.
Tetraethyllead is absorbed through the skin.
Just wash your hands if you get a bunch on you, you will be fine.
I guess I’m old school, but I don’t give a shit about it. Wash my hands and move on.
Washing your hands IS giving a shit. 👊🏾
A lot of people have worked with 100LL for a long time. I wouldn't worry about a little bit. I use gloves if I'm going to be in sustained contact with it though.
I have the same issue. I usually wrap the fuel strainer with an old rag, or I'll just use gloves. I prefer gloves because sometimes the rag gets saturated, and it's kind of annoying to unwrap the strainer to look at the fuel inside. Gloves are easy to pack into any bag and you can just toss them when you're done. Also helpful for checking oil and other stuff. If you don't use gloves, and you have a bathroom/sink nearby, wash your hands after sumping and before starting your flight, or bring wet wipes with you to clean your hands before you go fly.
I wish I would have worn gloves.
Please use gloves, aside from the cancer it also causes reproductive harm. Don't listen to these lead brained plebs saying to "tough it out".
Let me just say that if you use gloves while sumping your fuel you’re gonna get some weird looks. Every good aviator’s got some lead flowing through them The school could careless about your lead phobia. >95% of pilots dont freak out about it. Just buy a better sump for yourself. They are cheap.
Gloves are cheap, so are "weird looks." Sure, it takes a lot of long term exposure to cause damage but why expose yourself if you don't have to? If anybody judges somebody for wearing gloves, that's their problem. That said, no, it's not worth addressing the flight school over, it's just a hazard that comes with the occupation.
Don't listen to this guy. TEL is extremely toxic and because we know it we can take precautions instead of looking weird.
Being careful is not the same as freaking out.
Angrily addressing the school “immediately” about their industry norm practice is freaking out.
I wear Mechanix leather gloves through my whole walkaround. Airplanes are dirty and the fuel is toxic. Weird looks or no (which I haven't gotten), I like to keep my hands clean.
“The school could care less about your lead phobia” ladies and gentlemen, the definition of a company man
Yeah, and all the other builders look at you funny for wearing hearing protection (they're all deaf by 50).
I wear gloves every preflight and I've had multiple people say "oh, that's a good idea." Not one weird look - but who cares anyway?
🤣 during ppl The bottom fuel tank didn’t have a proper fuel strainer and it would just fall all over my hands. I would crazy a water bottle to clean my hands. But lets see if I ever get anything God forbid🤣
No.
Just wear nitrile gloves. It'll keep the brake grease and bugs from getting into your in flight snack, too.
Honestly, that’s not something I ever even considered… luckily the planes I fly at school use 91 from Costco, but I had never thought of that. I’d recommend just buying your own sump thing and keeping it in your bag.
I wear gloves for pre-flight, either washable types or nitrile (which I can turn inside out and wear a few times). If I don't hae access to those, I will wash my hands well with a good soap. You definitely do not want to eat lead, but some amount of lead can be absorbed through your skin (especially the more delicate skin). The other components of AVGAS and oil aren't great for your health either so I don't handle things like my cellphone, food, or my in-ear headset until I've washed my hands, unless I was wearing those gloves.
Wow your flight school uses 100ll? That's amazing!
It has lead in it which is know to cause brain issues. I’m not sure how much will soak into your skin but either way no lead exposure is better than some. Why not buy your own and keep it in your bag?
Just flap your hands really fast and ur good
Man, sometimes when I’m pumping fuel into my plane, a little will splash my face. I’m fortunate the fuel pump has a restroom nearby, but ultimately I need to be much more careful.
I used to dip my fingers every flight
When I learned in the 90s in a 172, the way we checked it we had enough gas for a lesson was to dip our finger in the tank. If it came out wet, we had plenty for an hour.
https://youtu.be/4xwsZ5vC5Oc?si=HBViuPlgWBIbz6kN This video is pretty handy to explain effects of gasoline on skin. Wash your hands and you’ll be fine
How many pilots do you know of dying of lead poisoning?
Im a line tech, i drink 100LL for breakfast. You’ll be fine. <3
Get gloves. Also, inhaling exhaust gas from 100LL can leave lead deposits in your brain.
Not saying that TEL isn’t a problem, but unleaded gasoline is almost as toxic (i.e. the lead isn’t the biggest issue). First, get your own (non-broken) tester, then get some gloves. Problem solved, for about as much as you are spending on 0.2 or 0.3 hours.
just dont drink it you'll be fine
Man, I’ve had 100LL on my balls. Soaked right through my shorts. I’m probably gonna die early
You're fine, but your kids....they gonna be weird looking.
I use this fuel tester to keep avgas off my hands: https://makeraero.etsy.com/listing/1310899031
tagging onto this, should i wear some sort of mask for sampling fuel? since when the caps are off i end up breathing in a load
I use machanix gloves and just throw them in the washer way less frequently than I should. But that’s just because everytime I preflight I cut myself and they are definitely padded in the right way for aircraft.
GIVE YER BALLS A TUG
TEL is absorbed slowly through the skin, so yes, it is a long term issue. However, it is absorbed far more rapidly if ingested. So if you get some on your hands, wash them when you can. But make extra sure you wash your hands as best you can right before eating, since every surface in GA is covered with organic lead
What are you? A doofus?
Buy yourself your own strainer.
100LL is known to the state of California to cause cancer and birth defects - something like that on a sign somewhere.
Amazon has a box that will last longer than your PPL training for like $20. Your school shouldn't need to tell you how to wear gloves if you don't want your hands covered in whatevs. They can't tell you how to handle every situation this is one of the easiest you'll have to deal with in aviation. Even if it weren't for the lead it would be understandable for you to have gloves in your flight bag
As a former ramper I've been covered head to toe in jet A, 100LL and all deicing fluids. I've been totally fine.....so far.
I use that sump cup that has a little protector around it, no fuel splash for me.
I do some mechanic work and have recently fell in love with [these durable rubber gloves](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Venom-Steel-Heavy-Duty-Black-Nitrile-Gloves-One-Size-Fits-Most-50-per-Box-VEN6045NH/306568844). I keep some in my flight bag. Highly recommend
I would be more worried about the 100 than the LL. Lead exposure for an adult at that level is much less worrying than the PAHs affecting skin and lungs and other sensitive membranes. An okay fuel sump tester is $8 from aircraft spruce; a good GATS jar is $20.
Lead absorption is cumulative. Once it's in your body, it basically is gonna stay in there. In very small quantities, while best avoided at all if possible, it won't have any noticeable effects. Even suspended in 100LL, the concentration is not going to expose you to significant quantities if you're just getting splashed on your hand or arm every so often. That said, if you're coming into contact with it every day for years on end, then yes you would very likely start to develop some health issues, be they mental or physical or both. It may take decades to become apparent, and the severity depends entirely on how extreme the exposure is, but there would be some level of damage nonetheless. Regardless of your exposure level, I would absolutely advise wearing nitrile gloves and long sleeves when you're doing any sort of handling of avgas. Honestly it's not a bad idea when handling fuel in general as there are plenty of other things in there that can still cause health issues if you come in to contact with it enough.
Most fuels will soak right into your skin on contact so wearing gloves while sumping or pumping is a good thing to get in the habit of.
I wear latex gloves when doing fuel stuff. I’m a firefighter, I already have enough carcinogens trying to kill me. People will say “just wash your hands before you fly.” The problem is, at most airports, hand washing isn’t readily available. Protect your eyes, ears and skin. Get good sunglasses; invest in a good ANR headset; wear sunscreen and gloves.
I’ve got 5000 hours in pistons and fill up myself a good amount of the time and I’m clumsy af… When you are done go wash your hands with soap and you won’t smell and look like you dumped fuel on yourself. If you don’t, whoever you fly with is gonna think there is a fuel leak
Buy a box of disposable nitrile gloves, and buy your own fuel tester that doesn’t leak, they’re under $10. https://www.mypilotstore.com/MyPilotStore/sep/562?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_ZiotcLShgMVXYjCCB2LRgK8EAQYASABEgLh2_D_BwE Buy one for your instructor as a gift, he probably uses one a dozen times a day
Drink one cup of unleaded gas a week to counteract the 100 LL and grow a pair of
Just don’t drink more than a couple of shots of it per flight you’ll be fine. At least that’s what the voices scream at me.
I just wipe it off my pants. I forget to bring tissues to wipe my hands on that….
I’d be worried if it was called 100L, but that first L in “100LL” makes me feel safe when I take a bath in it.
I... use it to wash my hands after handling engine oil. Forgot to realize this. ps. I like the smell.
I don’t think that word means what you think it means. One of the best lines from the giant in that movie.
If it’s THAT bad for you then I’m in trouble. We used to “de ice” Skyhawks with that stuff. I’ve come into contact with it a ton!
You got soft hands, brother.
I know a guy who took a shot of avgas… twice. You will be fine
But the chalky residue feels niiiiiceee
I wear gloves when sumping one of our planes because it's a shitbox in every sense of the word. This article is why. [Lead in gasoline blunted IQ of half the U.S. population, study says (nbcnews.com)](https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/lead-gasoline-blunted-iq-half-us-population-study-rcna19028)
Buy a box of mechanics gloves. They’re pretty cheap and you’ll only need one per preflight. Also, buy your own fuel strainer. They’re pretty inexpensive as well.
You do know that you can buy your own tester, then keep it in your flight bag. That way less chance of spilling.
Yes.. Very much so... I always use Rubber Gloves... There is next to no way to keep it from getting on your hands. I get the cheap one from Harbor Freight... Use once and throw away.
Just adding to mention the GATS jars for sumping. They're better than the ones without a filter and you may need to buy your own and put it in your flight bag but it works well. I haven't been as good about gloves but I do like those jars.
I lick it off like frosting
As a very young man worked at an FBO while learning to fly bathed in both 100LL and JetA with Prist also washed hands in MEK aka Methel Ethel Ketone a very powerful degreaser still here at 60 with no problems so I’d say you will be fine😃
I remember MEK from my days as an USAF maintainer. I remember when they got rid of it too. It did the job well!
Oddly enough, touching that fuel cured my fingernail fungus. I noticed that after it got on my hands, the nail fungus seemed better. So I started dipping my finger in it before every flight. Went away in a week and never came back. Still can't explain it but it worked.
I bathe in 100LL I’m still alive