when sanding, you create very fine dust, & I highly recommend dust respirator. I found a comfortable one at home depot. it cost around $7 & it has an exhale valve that makes life much easier. I love it.

when working with polyester, a dust respirator wont do you any good, because the nasty fume particles are way too small for the dust respirator filter. you need a filter specifically designed to kill that nasty smell. I'm not sure about the exact type of that filter, ask some people around here. I've never worked with polyester.

whatever nasty stuff epoxy has, it's very little. use mask, or just open the window/ garage door.

oh.... & the gloves stuff. listen sweet hart, you must wear working gloves when sanding. I'm one of those who got that rush/blistering stuff on my skin. It's not going to kill me, but it's not pleasant to know that I became sensitive to this stuff because of that wierd hobby of mine.

catch yoo lay-ta

Erez