I just finished grinding off a bunch of lead filler. I used a painters' mask but now have these pieces of lead grinders' dust everywhere in the shop and probably in the air via the furnace. How dangerous is this? My pekker gonna turn black and fall off? Do i get out the hazmat suit or just sweep it up and keep strokin? Anybody have experience or advice? Thanks - and don't start askin me for my tools or nuthin, i ain't that dumb - later, oj
I just melt it out with a propane torch. But since you made a mess, sweep it up, wash things down (shop prob needs it regardless) and change the furnace filter.
next time just melt it off. once it settles it shouldnt get airborn TOO easy... it is, after all, lead. as for the pekker question, it might turn black and fall off, but not because of the lead
Drink lots of OJ, stip down , scrub entire body down with thinner, use q-tips in your hose with thinner, and really get good behind the ears. and after you do all that you will have forgotten about the lead and just go on about your day.
It isn't any worse than half a pack of smokes, I agree with everyone else always melt it out never grind it out. So sweep it up and keep on truckin!
Man, if the pain that follows this regimen doesn't make you FORGET the rest of your day...and week...nothin' WILL...!!! R-
Actually the fumes from burning it are worse for you than the dust. You look at some of the old body guys that worked with lead back in the day and they all are showing signs of some sort of lead poising. With that being said they worked with it day in and day out. So what ever you have been exposed to probably is not enough to worry about. If you have small children dont let them into the shop until you clean up a little. You know kids, they put everything in their mouths. I would recommend that you wear a respirator when doing this. As far as the heater goes the filter should catch it.
Lead issues are usually with long term exposure, or if you are 3 years old and you eat it. Dont sweat it much but the next time you mess with it or if you are going to mess with it a lot avoid skin contact, wear the proper resperator, use a disposable suit and gloves... you can learn alot on line. My guess is you wont have enough exposure to worry about it.
Keep check on your pecker,rub the dust off viguroisley and often and you'll be OK,or at least feel better.
Out of 'Q' tips, used a wire brush for oil gallies and some carb cleaner and Man! am i glad that is over with! If that is how Hinesy deals with it he's a better man than i, cigar and all. Thanks guys, oj
lol my mom was talking to Bill Hines when he and Brad chopped my car. She asked him if lead was dangerous like people always say and he said he has been ''doing it every day since 1941 and as long as you don't eat the shit it wont hurt you''.
In the 50's, it seems every kid sucked on a lead pencil. When the lead scare happened, they removed the lead from gas. A study was done on beef cattle that were penned next to a highway. Turns out, once the lead leaves the exhaust pipe, it fell to the ground. There were no elevated levels of lead in the cows. What it did do was raise the price of gas for reformulated fuels.
vacuum it up. Don't tell anybody where you live, or tell anybody what you told us. The nanny syndrome busybody greenies in the county/city will condemn your house.
The brother in law cast lead for battery plates for many many years, lead takes time to absorb and build, then takes time to expell. Go ahead and clean up, he took zinc suppliment, but I forget now if it helped or masked the manditory test results. OBW he changed careers and is fine.
If I can help. I worked in a lead -acid battery factory for 15 years, i made the lead terminals for the batterys. Our lead melted at 850 degress. It was safe as long as the lead never reached over 1400 degrees. Then the fumes were at the harmful state. I would say melteding it at a lower flame just enough to get it out and not blow torch it will be fine. The dust, put a little floor sweep on it and use a dust pan. Just general housekeeping and its not that big a deal.
I did body lead work for years & still do ....cast lead soilders.....cast bullets for years.....still cast bullets......cast lead into ingots.....etc. Had a lead test several years ago by the Co. I worked for and the only lead found in my system was in my ass... Nothing wrong with me....nothing rong with me.......nothing wrong with mee .....nuthing wong wth meeeee
They make a big deal out of it around here, as it was where most of the lead was mined and smelted for over 60 years. We have tailings piles all over around here after the mining companies pulled out, and the EPA has a rubber band around everyone's nuts about it. We have a lot of old timers around who worked the mines and they seem all right. It can't be good for you, but living in a city with car exhaust, coal power plants and pesticides being sprayed from airplanes can't be much better. I think the mines leaving did more damage to the local economy than the mining did to people's health. I wouldn't want to live next door to a smelter though...
I can't believe you guys! Lead is dangerous. Fact. Grinding lead is the worse thing you can do. The lead dust settles out and gets on your skin, on your cigs, on your food, in your drink. That's where you get the most lead in your system from. NOT doing bodywork with lead the right way! You DO NOT sand or grind lead when doing bodywork. you use a Vixen file, which shaves off big pieces. When removing it, melt it off. Big pieces won't harm you, unless you eat them. I'd wear a respirator, or dust mask, vacuum or sweep it up carefully (use a HEPA in your vacuum, and handle it carefully, too) do a real good job. Immediately after, wash clothes and shower. Why take chances...you all read what happened to the guy who had the paint sensitivity to URETHANE, didn't you????? I know a few guys who worked with lead ( and paint) who are carefull, and they are OK. I also know guys who were lackadaisical about safety, and are paying for it after all these years.
I won't tell anyone about your lead contamination issue if you keep quiet about what I did with my asbestos-lined furnace when I changed it in 1989. Bill Hines is ok since he filters all his air through his ever present stogie. I would just hose the garage out onto the neighbor's property. Bob
Saw a TV commercial last night that made it seem like a major bio-hazard and they appeared to treat it like a super dangerous material. Use a little common sense and limit your exposure and I'm sure you'll be ok. Same thing applies to asbestos.
I worked for a company for 24 yrs. that made the structures for machines used in the radiation treatments in hospitals. Many of the cavitys in these structures were filled with lead so the radiation could'nt escape. Over the years, we poured gazillon tons of lead into these structures, using a lead pot in which we melted about 2000# of lead at a time. Complying to the latest OSHA/EPA regs. all that was required was a exhaust fan over the lead pot and wearing disposible coveralls and a dust mask. Their big concern was not getting lead splatter on your clothes and tracking it home, where it could fall onto the carpet and kids could eat it and the proper disposal of the slag. Unless you ingest it or breathe in a lot of fumes over a long period it is realitively harmless.
Just about everything we live with is hazardous in some way,just use common sense wear a mask,clean up when your done and take a shower.
If you have kids keep them away from your garage until you clean it up it is bad on children .Next time sweet the lead out with a torch .My 2 cents
You guys ever work on radios, Lead soldering was the way to go. Nowadays it is the "don't lead anyone do anything that might make someone sick in the next county" Lead paint, lead in gas, lead in the air, and it is all the same, Some people are scared to wipe their butt, as it might be infectiouis, so they walk around with dingleberries and fruit flys around their butt. Sweep it up, throw it in a plastic back, black preferably, and throw it in the trash. As to having it in dumps, heck, it came out of the ground didn't it! traderjack
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