I have always sprayed my fruit trees unprotected and I know sometimes my tongue is numb afterward. But it always goes away.Nitrile gloves. Wore them for 20 years as a mechanic. Definitely protects from chemicals. When I was farming in the 80's I was young and dumb. Spraying herbicides one day and the sprayer nozzle got plugged up. I cleaned it out without gloves, got some herbicide on my hands, no big deal. FYI the chemical was yellow. A few days later I noticed a yellow band on each fingernail. All ten fingers had the same band the went across the nail and was about 1/16" wide. Took a few weeks for the band to grow out and be trimmed out of each nail. Ok, lesson learned, always wore gloves after that. Chemicals do get into your body, prevention is important.
I have always sprayed my fruit trees unprotected and I know sometimes my tongue is numb afterward. But it always goes away.
The very worst thing about this country's tough-guy mentality is that it is so durable in the face of new & better information.
The very worst thing about this country's tough-guy mentality is that it is so durable in the face of new & better information.
Gloves definitely.
I suffered a bad case of lead poisoning* when I worked at an indoor range in Avon. The ventilation wasn't that great, and I cleaned/worked on a LOT of guns. Even with the ultrasonic cleaner, still had to get dirty. I usually wore gloves, but they'd rip and tear and I was too dumb (stubborn) to stop and put on a fresh pair.
*Normal lead levels are supposed to be under 10. Mine got close to 60. Even after a couple rounds of chelation, it only dropped to the mid-30's. I finally quit working there, and after about 9 months of being away, my levels are now normal. But the damage has been done.
Don't be like Steve. Wear gloves to clean your guns....