Is epoxy resin safe to use while pregnant?

What does the evidence say about epoxy resin during pregnancy?

1. Epoxy resins that harden at room temperature, rather than with heat, are more hazardous and remain so even once solid, because uncombined amine hardener persists in the hardened resin for long periods and is the main cause of resin-related skin sensitization and dermatitis. 1
2. Workers with higher epoxy resin exposure were significantly more likely to report cough and wheeze than unexposed workers, and close to a third had reduced lung function on spirometry testing, compared with very few unexposed workers. 2
3. At a facility manufacturing epoxy resin with a common hardener, new occupational asthma appeared in about 10% of workers a year before respirators were required, dropping to at most 2% a year after respirator use began, though testing has still detected some hardener chemicals reaching skin underneath gloves and protective clothing, meaning PPE reduces but doesn't fully eliminate exposure. 3
4. A retrospective cohort study of 587 births found both maternal and paternal occupational exposure to bisphenol A, a core building block of epoxy resin, were associated with lower birth weight and smaller gestational size, with a stronger association for maternal exposure, though the reviewing authors characterize overall human evidence on BPA and birth weight as limited and inconsistent. 4
5. A NIOSH workplace health evaluation documented a real case of work-related allergic contact dermatitis, confirmed by patch testing to bisphenol A, in a worker handling epoxy resin, and recommended engineering controls like local exhaust ventilation and dispensing tools that limit skin contact, alongside glove use. 5

Is epoxy resin safe in each trimester?

• First trimester. There's no research isolating extra first-trimester risk from resin work specifically, but this is the window when avoiding an easily skippable exposure carries the most weight, given the documented, if occupational-level, link between bisphenol A exposure and lower birth weight.
• Second trimester. No trimester-specific resin research exists for this window either. If you do continue resin work, the same precautions apply throughout: nitrile gloves, strong ventilation, and avoiding any skin contact with uncured resin or hardener.
• Third trimester. Still no third-trimester-specific data. Standing over a resin project for long stretches and tolerating fumes both get harder as pregnancy progresses, which is its own practical reason to hand the project to someone else this late.