Black snot--is it bad for you? Why is UPS so dirty?

[jamesradcliffe]

Hi all,

I've been working at UPS for 8 years as a package handler (Portland, OR). Every day after work I've had black snot. So:

1. Does this happen to everybody?
2. Is this bad for you?
3. If so, how bad?
4. Though the effects of this may be difficult to measure, has anyone had any health problems that they think may be in part attributable to this (e.g. respiratory problems).
5. Does anybody know of any regulations UPS is supposed to comply with regarding the amount of dust allowable in the hub?

Any feedback regarding this issue would be greatly appreciated.

 

[SCV good to go sir.]

It used to happen to me.
It's obviously not good for you.
Ask a doctor.
No.
If it's not dust in the hub it's exhaust fumes on the road. Pick your poison.

 

[trickpony1]

1. good luck with that.

2. don't use your real name on a public forum.

 

[jamesradcliffe]

it's not my real name

 

[Box Ox]

Diesel exhaust. If PCs are being moved during the sort and you smell it, you're getting the black stuff.

 

[jamesradcliffe]

It seems worst after I've loaded or unloaded, which in my hub isn't very nearby the PC's, so I don't think it's primarily the exhaust. The dust is almost a thin fog in a lot of the trailers I'm in.

 

[PT Car Washer]

Cardboard dust from all the belts. I loaded on preload and sorted inside for almost 20 years until I bid a car wash job. I agree the moving of package cars inside the building during the twilight sort adds a lot of indoor air pollution.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

During the winter they will park the tractors inside. It is not pleasant when they start one of those up.

 

[oldngray]

Cardboard dust from all the belts. I loaded on preload and sorted inside for almost 20 years until I bid a car wash job. I agree the moving of package cars inside the building during the twilight sort adds a lot of indoor air pollution.

Also black oxide from aluminum slides and shelves gets everywhere. Dirty but not dangerous.

 

[PT Car Washer]

During the winter they will park the tractors inside. It is not pleasant when they start one of those up.

When I was on preload that is where they would park some of the tractors during the weekend. Made it hard to read the address label (no PAL stickers back then).

 

[jamesradcliffe]

1. good luck with that.

2. don't use your real name on a public forum.

good luck with what?

 

[Harry Manback]

Depends. Are you eating it?

 

[upschuck]

it's not my real name

Is it Pig Pen?

 

[soberups]

Try being a rural driver on gravel roads in the summer. The gravel gets ground down into an abrasive powder that causes nosebleeds and goes way up into your sinuses and turns into big black dust boogers. Some are so big that pulling them out feels like getting a frontal lobotomy.

 

[soberups]

The Black Booger.

Some people think its funny, but it snot.

 

[3 done 3 to go]

Normal. It is the aluminum plus dirt. I can't imagine how much of that dust is piling up in the bottom of my lungs. It is worse on real rural areas. With less paved roads.

 

[AndUPSER]

I work at a gravel pit along with UPS. The black snot can be ridiculous at times.

 

[Indecisi0n]

Try being a rural driver on gravel roads in the summer. The gravel gets ground down into an abrasive powder that causes nosebleeds and goes way up into your sinuses and turns into big black dust boogers. Some are so big that pulling them out feels like getting a frontal lobotomy.

But it feels so good once you yank it out. Then you're driving down the road trying to steer and flick a bogger out the window that refuses to let go.

 

[burrheadd]

But it feels so good once you yank it out. Then you're driving down the road trying to steer and flick a bogger out the window that refuses to let go.

Or you can be like this guy

 

[Ring Sport]

Get yourself a neti pot or a nasal aspirator. Either mix your own solution of a quarter teaspoon of baking soda and a quarter teaspoon of epsom salt to distilled or tap water. Or buy the premixed packets.