[TheForge] Safety concerns - zinc

[Ron Childers]

Bill keeps us in *stiches* with tails of his misadventures but something
happened recently to a friend of mine that is "deadly" serious.

We have all burned the zinc off galvanized metal and gotten away with it
with no apparent ill effects. Jim Wilson, however, was inside a closed shop,
burning it off with a torch- he knew better; in fact, he sent his helper out
of the shop because he knew it was dangerous. We like to think we are
indestructible, but the fumes caused (metal fume fever?) and Jim is now in
the hospital in intensive care and gravely ill. 

I know he would not mind my publishing the story as a warning to avoid
breathing the fumes from burning or welding galvanized metal.

Ron Childers