However, it’s still important to take steps to remove fiberglass from your skin as soon as possible. Prompt removal can help prevent skin irritation. It can also help prevent it from entering your body through your eyes, nose, or throat.
How to Safely Remove Fiberglass from Your Skin
Fiberglass is a synthetic material that’s made of extremely fine fibers of glass. It’s commonly used in the insulation of your home or office. Exposure typically only occurs if the material is disturbed, such as during a renovation.
If you do come into contact with fiberglass, the fibers can pierce the outer layer of the skin, causing pain and irritation. Though it should not affect your health in the long term.
Keep reading to learn how to safely remove fiberglass from your skin. We also include practical tips for working with fiberglass.
According to the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry, if your skin has come in contact with fiberglass, few, if any, are likely to enter your body.
However, it’s still important to take steps to remove fiberglass from your skin as soon as possible. Prompt removal can help prevent skin irritation. It can also help prevent it from entering your body through your eyes, nose, or throat.
If your skin does come into contact with fiberglass, take these steps to remove it:
- Immediately wash the exposed area with warm water and mild soap.
- Wipe the exposed area with a washcloth to help remove fibers from the skin.
- If fibers can be seen protruding from the skin, carefully remove them by putting tape on the area and then gently removing the tape. The fibers will stick to the tape and pull out of your skin.
What not to do
- Don’t scratch or rub affected areas, as that may push fibers into the skin.
- Don’t remove fibers from the skin using compressed air.
Irritant contact dermatitis
If your skin comes into contact with fiberglass, it may cause an irritation known as fiberglass itch. If this irritation persists, see a doctor.
If your doctor feels that the exposure has resulted in contact dermatitis, they may recommend that you apply a topical steroid cream or ointment once or twice a day until the inflammation resolves.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), touching fiberglass shouldn’t result in long-term health effects.
In the short term, along with irritating effects on the skin, exposure to fiberglass may also cause:
- eye irritation
- nose and throat soreness
- stomach irritation
Exposure to fiberglass can also aggravate chronic skin and respiratory conditions, such as bronchitis and asthma.
What about cancer?
In 2001, the International Agency for Research on Cancer updated its classification of glass wool (a form of fiberglass) from “possible carcinogenic to humans” to “not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans.”
According to the Washington State Department of Health, deaths from lung disease — including lung cancer — in workers involved in the manufacture of glass wool aren’t consistently different from those in the U.S. general population.
Fiberglass is most commonly used for insulation, including:
- home and building insulation
- electrical insulation
- plumbing insulation
- acoustic insulation
- ventilation duct insulation
It’s also used in:
- furnace filters
- roofing materials
- ceilings and ceiling tiles
The largest risk of fiberglass exposure is for those who work with the material. To keep yourself safe when working with fiberglass, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene suggests the following:
- Don’t directly touch materials that may contain fiberglass.
- Wear an N95 mask to protect the lungs, throat, and nose.
- Wear eye protection or goggles with side shields.
- Wear gloves.
- Wear loose-fitting, long-legged, and long-sleeved clothing.
- Remove any clothing worn while working with fiberglass immediately following the work.
- Wash clothing that was worn while working with fiberglass separately. According to the IDPH, after the exposed clothing has been washed, the washing machine should be rinsed thoroughly.
- Clean exposed surfaces with a wet mop or a vacuum cleaner with a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter.
- Don’t stir up dust by dry sweeping or other activities.
Exposure to fiberglass can result in painful, itchy, irritated skin. Taking steps to prevent exposure and knowing how to safely remove fiberglass from the skin can help protect your health.
If skin irritation persists, see a doctor.
Last medically reviewed on November 13, 2022
How to Remove Fiberglass From Skin
Fiberglass is a common man-made material found in many household and office products. During renovation or construction, you may be exposed to fiberglass dust. This dust contains glass fibers that can irritate your skin, eyes, nose, or throat.
Removing Fiberglass from Your Skin
While touching fiberglass doesn’t usually lead to long-term effects on your health, exposure to it may cause intense itching, redness, or a rash. So, it’s important to remove fiberglass from your skin as soon as possible so it doesn’t come in contact with your eyes, nose, or throat.
If you’ve come into contact with fiberglass shards or you have a rash and itchiness after you were exposed to fiberglass, don’t rub or scratch the area. Immediately wash the exposed area with warm water and mild soap and wipe with a washcloth to remove the glass fibers from your skin.
Sometimes, you may be able to clearly see fiberglass fibers in your skin. After you’ve washed the area, use a small piece of adhesive tape over the area that was exposed to fiberglass and use the tape to pull out the shards.
Take a shower as soon as possible to wash off other traces of fiberglass that may have touched your skin.
Contact your doctor if necessary to treat any rash and other exposure symptoms, like coughing or itching.
Lessen Your Chances of Exposure to Fiberglass
Many roofing, insulation, and heating materials may contain fiberglass, especially in older buildings. If you’re doing a construction project and start to feel itching or irritation on your skin, you may have been exposed to fiberglass dust.
Generally, to lessen your risk of fiberglass exposure on a worksite, do the following:
- Cover your skin with loose-fitting, full-coverage clothing. Always wear gloves, closed-toe shoes, eye goggles, and masks when working near fiberglass materials.
- Keep doors and windows open for better airflow and to lessen exposure to large amounts of fiberglass dust.
- Always wash your hands before eating, drinking, or smoking. Don’t leave food or drinks in the same room as fiberglass dust.
- Wash the clothes you wore on the job site immediately after exposure. Always wash work clothes separately from other clothes to prevent the spread of fiberglass shards. Clean your washing machine thoroughly after you wash your work clothes.
- Wet the floors and use a vacuum with a HEPA filter to remove fiberglass dust. Never dry sweep fiberglass dust.
Safety Concerns About Fiberglass Exposure
Even though getting fiberglass out of your skin isn’t easy, not removing it at all can be dangerous to your health.
Untreated, repeated exposure to fiberglass can lead to a skin inflammation called dermatitis — This may trigger an allergic reaction.
If you notice that your rashes caused by fiberglass exposure are getting worse, talk to your doctor immediately.
Fiberglass can easily transfer from your hands to your eyes, nose, throat, or other parts of your body — where it can be even more dangerous to your health. If you think you may have gotten fiberglass in any of these areas, take steps to remove the fibers and get medical help right away.
You may breathe in fiberglass while you check the exposed area on your skin. If you breathe in fiberglass, you may have irritation in your nose and throat along with coughing, wheezing, difficulty in breathing, and nosebleeding.
These symptoms are often worse in people with asthma or bronchitis.
Dry sweeping, poor ventilation, and not wearing goggles can also raise your chances of exposure to fiberglass.
Fiberglass dust on your hands and in the air can be painful if it gets in your eyes. If you get fiberglass in your eyes, use running water or an eyewash station to flush your eyes for 15 minutes. Lift your upper and lower lids to remove dust trapped near your eye.
Even after removing fiberglass from the exposed area, you may keep having redness, rash, itching, and discomfort. But it’s rare for people to have long-term effects from fiberglass exposure.
Contrary to popular belief, fiberglass isn’t known to cause cancer in humans. Exposure doesn’t make it more likely that you’ll develop respiratory cancers or other lung diseases.
Talk to your doctor for more information about soothing your skin, eyes, nose, or throat after fiberglass exposure.
Show Sources
Cutaneous and Ocular Toxicology: “Systemic allergic contact dermatitis to fiberglass in a factory worker of wind turbine blades.”
Illinois Department of Public Health: “Fiberglass.”
New Jersey Department of Health: “HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE FACT SHEET.”
NYC Health: “Fiberglass.”
Washington State Department of Health: “Fiberglass.”
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