[Jewelry making - Article 00190] - Re: [Orchid] Recasting old 18K...nasty alloy? - Ventilation

[Doug Harroun]

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    just my 2=A2... I would be cautious of ANY fumes in a metal workshop,
    even silver and gold. Recently I was exposed to a lung full of fumes
    from some over heated Silver. Within a few minutes I had a head ache,
    but it went away an hour later, so I thought I was ok. Little did I
    know the next morning when I woke up I would be in for one of the
    worst and scariest days of my life. Woke up at 8:00 am my throat
    swollen and in so much pain I could barely breathe, let alone talk or
    eat/drink. Then came a 4 hour round of the worst vomiting I've ever
    experienced followed by the rest of the day laying in bed sweating
    and having hallucinogenic nightmares, finally got to sleep around
    10pm. Next day I was fine, a bit weak from the trauma of it all, but
    otherwise I've recovered 100% since then. 

    After talking to a doctor I was told I had Silver Vapor Fever, and I
    was lucky I didn't wind up in a hospital which I probably would have
    but I have a good friend who is a nurse and took care of me =3D) I was
    told most metals can have a similar effect (like Zinc) some worse
    some not as bad... I hear Nickel is REALLY bad. 

    Since that happened I've been very careful about being in shops
    without proper ventilation, and I always make it a point to stress
    the importance of ventilation. We get one set of lungs! Just like our
    hands and eyes, we cannot do this work without our lungs. A friend of
    mine is 26 and already has emphysema from silver fuming glass which
    makes it impossible for him to work now, it's a result of working in
    a small garage with little ventilation (he thought it was fine). My
    rule is if you go in a shop and can smell any fumes the ventilation
    isn't good enough, or at least could be better. 

    Anyways,  that's my 2=A2 =3D) 

Doug Harroun,
Albuquerque, NM

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