--- Stan Barr <stanb_at_dial.pipex.com> wrote:
> I was taken ill a few years ago with some symptons that could be
> remotely explained by heavy metal poisoning so I was thoroughly tested.
> My lead levels were right on the average for someone living in an
> urban environment.
My personal lead concern isn't so much growing up amidst lead-based
paint and leaded gasoline/petrol or even soldering since I was a lad,
it's lead from plumbing, both from lead feed pipes in my childhood
home (not lead joints, lead supply lines in the walls!) and the drinking
water at McMurdo Station - the plumbing in the older buildings dates
from well before 1975, including the Galley and many of the dorms.
Because they changed the water extraction technique in 1995 from
evaporators to reverse osmosis (they stopped melting collected snow
a long time ago), the pH changed, and with it, the ability of the
water to leach lead out of the joints. They tested the water several
times per year and it routinely failed with 2x the safe limits for
folks stateside. We were told it wasn't really a problem since we
weren't children or expectant mothers, but when calculating our
personal lead intakes, I am fairly certain that they did not factor
in the fact that to avoid dehydration, we were supposed to drink no
less than 4 litres per day (you'd be amazed how fast you can respirate
yourself to illness!).
So, handling a little solder doesn't phase me. I just try not to lick
it too often.
-ethan
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Received on Tue Apr 02 2002 - 23:55:42 BST