Car paint fumes, pregnancy, and local council laws...

My across the road neighbour paints cars (is that how you say it...? Or is there some other term?)... he does touchups... anyway, he has to sand the paint off (i assume its sanding it off... well, he has to get the paint of and uses something like a grinder... anyway how it comes off isn't the issue)... and then he repaints it with a spray thingy.

Ok, so I don't know much about painting cars! The point is, wwhen he's working on these cars all I can smell is paint fumes, and since the wind generally blows from their house to ours, which means when he is working (which is pretty much every day) I either have to put up with the fumes (which I don't do especially since I am pregnant) or shut that whole side of my house up and miss out on the breeze... usually I have to shut the whole house up since it manages to sneak in the back door too...

My first question is... well obviously I know the fumes aren't good, but how bad are they? Is it essential I shut the house up completely, or would it be ok just to close the window closest to me? I can still smell it if I just close that window, but it isn't as bad...

Secondly... I really have had just about enough of it to be honest. Its hot enough for me as it is, let alone having to miss out on the breeze, and my super-nose means fresh air is a must because I can't stand when it gets stuffy (which it does very quickly without fresh air). Am I able to call the council? Is there something about fumes that the council can check on? It seems like a bit of an under the table venture IYKWIM (not too illegal, just not an actual business)... I don't want to get them in trouble or anything, but I'm just over smelling car paint fumes!!!

TIA!

Alisia, I had the same problem when I was pregnant with Jovie. I actually had times when it caused me to vomit heaps... I'm not sure if it was just the thought of the fumes or the smell.

I went next door & asked them to let me know when they were painting as it caused me to get quite ill during pregnancy & I would shut all the windows & doors when it happened. They were happy with that and would let me know. Most of the time I had to leave the house because I couldn't stand it and worried about the baby. But they sprayed cars everyday for months.

How old are the cars? Some older cars have lead based paints and there would be lead in the dust particles from sanding. If the cars look about 1980's or earlier you can get a lead blood test.
You could check air quality regulations for your local council or ring them up - the receptionists for local councils usually have an amazing knowledge of all the regulations.