28 Apr
2011
28 Apr
'11
12:49 p.m.
At 12:00 -0500 4/28/11, cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote:
I've found it interesting that folks don't balk
at having a roof
flashed with lead or a stained-glass window that uses lead canes in
their church, but get nervous if they come within an arm's length of
the stuff.
<Sheepishly raises hand> Yup! That's me!
My father-in-law is a physician and also a Civil War buff.
For years he carried around a lead bullet he found on a battlefield,
as a good-luck charm. He showed me one time, and I asked him what he
did about the toxicity, pointing out the dark stains on his fingers
from handling it. His eyes widened a little, and now it
sits on his
dresser.
Absent strong acids, metallic lead is comparatively
safe.
Yeah. But "Chemistry puzzles me" and I'm not too confident I
won't inadvertently electrolyze some of the lead into solution. Nor
that the kids won't do so when they try something clever out.
Heavy-metal poisoning (not just lead, either) is one of those
slow-acting, subtle things where you can get into a lot of trouble
before you realize it. I know it's around a lot (like, the car
battery I hooked up as my power supply), but ... still, I feel like
minimizing exposure where I can, particularly since I don't much know
what I'm doing, either chemically or biologically.
Yes, I solder outside, for improved ventilation, when I
solder. I'll wear the "paranoia" badge but I may not change my
behavior.
--
- Mark 210-379-4635
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Large Asteroids headed toward planets
inhabited by beings that don't have
technology adequate to stop them:
Think of it as Evolution in Fast-Forward.