It scares me to think of all the stuff I've exposed my carcass to while mechanicing. No varsol? Wash in gasoline. Need to clean out a oil cooler or evaporator? Use Freon 11.
Carb cleaner, both aerosol and bath, brake cleaner, super strength soap cleaners, brake fluid, paint thinner, mineral spirits, every kind of lubricant available in a big maintenance shop along with the aforementioned I've worked with without PPE. Darn right suicidal! But back in the day personal safety wasn't stressed. Example: during a safety inspection the varsol bath was written up for not having a fire extinguisher within 10 feet. No mention of gloves for it.....
My "wake up" moment came when a good friend got a brain tumor. Living in Texas his home shop was air tight so the A/C would work good. Nothing got out and he was doing it all - mechanic and body work. A biopsy of the tumor removed showed it be directly related to the shop. It killed him, took about a year to do it, nothing would stop the reoccurrence of the cancer.
So do I use PPE now? Darn tooting!