I agree, it's kinda sad how paranoia seems to be rife about stuff that is manageable while things we should have paid attention to like smoking has taken centuries to get people to think about.Quote:
Originally Posted by AndrewOC
In someways it's understandable how fear of the unknown leads to exaggeration and a few rounds of Chinese whispers later and it's more dangerous than ebola.
High concentration ZnO fumes have an immediate effect which causes those exposed to sit up and immediately take notice.
ZnO effects are unfortunately tangled up with the the effects from more toxic metals like Cd and Cr which can do things directly.
ZnO exposure apparently does not kill directly but increases the chance of getting other pulmonary diseases like pneumonia.
BTW definitely be careful with old Zn compared to new Zn as old Zm has more Cd in it. It was not until the 1960s that Zn processing was changed to better remove the Cd from it.
I've worked with just about every element on the periodic table during (including some pretty toxic and radioactive materials) during my working life as a research scientist and I on a scale of 1 (least dangerous) to 10 (most dangerous) I would put ZnO is the less than 5/10 category.
I do know what it's like to have my breath taken away by fumes from welding galv which is why I put certain things like ventilation in place in my shed.
Of course I don't advocate welding the stuff willy nilly but the problem basically becomes a non-issue just by using a decent high flow extractor and if you happen to get a faint whiff or two every now and then it will not kill you.
