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OT-ish - Outbreak of metals poisoning in India

20 years ago I cast and a machined a large brass bell and polished in the lathe, without a mask and spent a week in bed, got real fine brass dust in my lungs...real bad... be careful...Phil
 
Phil in Montana said:
20 years ago I cast and a machined a large brass bell and polished in the lathe, without a mask and spent a week in bed, got real fine brass dust in my lungs...real bad... be careful...Phil
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Damn. That's pretty bad, but it could have been worse, could have been a leaded brass. But I guess the zinc isn't good for the lungs either, and copper has reactive chemistry with tissue too.

Have you exhibited any sensitivity when working with copper or brass since, or no issues?
 
In a previous life, I welded thin,galvanized sheet metal for 8 hours a day. Lots of it. 5 or 6 guys under this rudimentary fume hood all doing the same thing.
Regular ol' welding hood, leather sleeves and gloves. It was horrible. I'd hold my breath as much as possible. The smoke would come up under the hood and fog over my safety glasses. As far as I can tell, none of them other guys (all older than me) ever suffered any side effects from that process~ meaning none died of any cancer or respiratory illness~ but they've all since passed away.

I couldn't wait to get out of that department. Graduated from that to heli-arc welding aluminum. Much better... but every now and then I'd get arc sunburn on the portion of my neck and throat where the hood and my shirt didn't cover.
 
Gah, JoeE, zinc fumes are noxious. Maybe not as bad for you long-term as some of the more toxic stuff (lead, beryllium), but you can get a really nasty short-term case of "zinc flu". IIRC drinking a bunch of milk was recommended for relieving some of the symptoms.
 
Also known as "metal fume fever."

Metal fume fever - Wikipedia

They killed a guy in india, who was living in a scrapyard. His bunk was directly by a wall, on the other side of which was a piece of scrap metal from a university. It was a many-curie cobalt 60 source. He died of radiation poisoning/
 
jim rozen said:
Also known as "metal fume fever."

Metal fume fever - Wikipedia

They killed a guy in india, who was living in a scrapyard. His bunk was directly by a wall, on the other side of which was a piece of scrap metal from a university. It was a many-curie cobalt 60 source. He died of radiation poisoning/
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Poor bastard. Does beg the question, how much radioactive cobalt winds up in carbide tooling?
 
Milland said:
Patients hospitalized with mystery illness in India have excessive nickel and lead in blood, officials say - CNN

Only OT as I'm guessing the reason is food or drink contamination, but it's a reminder that we should be careful to avoid ingesting the materials we work with. Airborne dust, dirty hand while eating, or vapors from welding - all these and more can be a source of damaging pollutants.
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likely bad air
Worldwide Air Pollution Map and live air quality levels
 
I chewed on a rather large fishing sinker when I was around 8 years old. (Remember, 8 years old is safely below the allowable limit of age 12 for the oldest one can be, and still fish with bait. That is the reason I still had sinkers).

I remember looking at the tiny divots and wanting to experiment on the surface hardness of that sinker. Couldn't be more painful than using my teeth to open the little, seized bottles of Testers model paint I used daily, to build my favorite Focke Wulf & Junkers models.

If I remember right, I was just dimpling the surface, not crushing & swallowing. I do remember it looking clean and almost shiny when done!

No lie, I chewed on a sinker. Might be why I'm a Democrat... :eek::dunce:
 
I have a vague memory of making "braces" out of my dad's solder when I was 6 or so. Bleh. About 20 years ago I needed to melt some zinc, had a bunch of small pieces, melted them in a crucible with a torch and felt pretty crappy for a couple of days. Of course I looked it up after I'd made my pour.
 
The sandblasters used to arc spray zinc onto huge steel frames three shifts 24/7 .....best results from spraying onto freshly blasted steel......The air was always blue with zinc fumes and the arc light.......Thing affected me the most was epoxy thinner .....the stuff would sting your eyes 100 yards away.
 
Bill D said:
I always wondered about those guys in India who cut up old ships for scrap.
Bill D
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IIRC that's in Pakistan.

In either country, 500 people dead isn't really going to get any help fixing the problem.

Gonna need 1/2 million before something real happens.
 
Milland said:
We're going to have close to that here in the USA by the time Covid is under control (likely more).

Does that meet your needs?
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"Needs" ??? Trump threw everything he could at it, much shot down by Nancy & chuckey.

Operation Warp speed good enough for you ?
 
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