I may be a chicken little on this, but this was a danger that I did not grasp
from the manuals. As with any hobby worth doing, the car hobby has risks. I
try to have good habits and watch out for the imminent dangers, electrocution,
cutting of a limb, blindness. My research tells me that phosgene should be in
the same category. After learning about the danger, I have asked several
welders about the risk. All have worked with someone who is either permanently
disabled or will likely have lifelong tremors or similar problems. Admittedly,
I live in a small town, and it could be the same guy. Many folks say they have
gotten lucky many times.
Apparently arc/MIG welding provides the perfect atmosphere to create the toxin.
Heat, UV, and the welder is typically quite close to his work.
I'm not saying that it will happen, but this is a under-emphasised risk, which
seems more probable for us weekend warriors who have old cans all around and
work in less than ideal spaces. Not to rant, but this is an issue with our
litigious society, nothing is safe, but it is hard to filter the certain death
warnings from the things that happened once to a guy that won a lawsuit.. All
car ads feature text saying "do not attempt" whenever the car is shown in
motion. I saw an ad for an inhaler that read "not a capsule, do not swallow.".
So I, and probably many others, skim the warnings, disregard half since the
item will only cause cancer in California, then try to figure out how not to
get electrocuted. it's disclosure overload. My safety glasses came with a tag
that read,"never operate this tool without proper eye protection".
In closing the only guy in town that welds used gas tanks told me he was scared
of Phosgene, but the gas tanks are what paralyzed him.
Drew
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
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