vintage computers and lead poisoning?

From: Brian Mahoney <webhead_at_theantiquecomputer.com>
Date: Thu Jun 3 15:08:33 2004

----- Original Message -----
From: "R. D. Davis" <rdd_at_rddavis.org>
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
<cctalk_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2004 2:49 PM
Subject: Re: vintage computers and lead poisoning?


> Quothe SHAUN RIPLEY, from writings of Wed, Jun 02, 2004 at
10:17:41PM -0700:
> > I started to worry about lead paint problem when
> > buying an old house. I bought a lead test kit and
>
> Why? As long as your child is smart enough not to eat paint flakes or
> lick the dust, there isn't much to worry about. People have grown up
> living in houses with lead paint for many years and survived. Lead
> was taken out of gasoline primarily because some inner city children
> were senseless enough to eat dirt containing lead particles, etc. All
> of that overprotectiveness, like required car seats, bicycle helmets,
> etc. for children is just a way for certain corporations to reap large
> profits with the help of the government (can you say "successful
> lobbying and corrupt politicians" boys and girls?). Then some people
> go looney and install outlet protectors, place child-proof locks on
> cabinets, etc.
>
> Let's see a show of hands: how many of us grew up without outlet
> protectors and killed ourselves by sticking fingers and tongues into
> live electrical outlets or went into cabinets under sinks and ate
> cleaning products? Overprotected as children, they'll expect to
> continue to be overprotected as adults, which is part of the reason
> that some of us live in countries that have turned into so-called
> "nanny states" with seat-belt laws, etc.
>
> > tested the paint chips from the windows and fould them
> > to be positive. Then I tested some computer boards,
> > and the result was postive too. Have you ever found
>
> Relax, don't panic. Realize that they'll get more lead exposure from
> soldering or from pencils and don't waste your time worrying about it.
>

Pencils?


> > white powders near solder on your vintage board? They
> > are most likely lead dioxide. When you power up your
> > vintage computers, some lead dust will be blown to the
> > air and inhaled by your kids... Well, the last
>
> Surely not that big a risk to them; they'll get exposed to more
> dangerous substances and other problems from food; herbicides and
> pesticides sprayed by you or neighbors; and schoolmates with poor
> hygiene. You'd be better off worry about those real problems instead,
> they're bigger problems.
>
> > sentence is my pure imagination. Has anybody done any
> > research on this issue? To be safe, I am going to
> > throw most of my boards to attic, which are lying on
> > the floor and accessible to my two year old daughter.
>
> So? If she's taught to mind, she won't bother them. You want to
> teach her not to touch them anyway, since she might damage them with
> static electricity or otherwise break them. Anyway, you don't want
> her crawling around in your computer room, electronics lab, etc. and
> damaging things, do you? Just keep her out of there.
>
> --
> Copyright (C) 2004 R. D. Davis The difference between humans & other
animals:
> All Rights Reserved an unnatural belief that we're above Nature
&
> her other creatures, using dogma to justify
such
> www.rddavis.org 410-744-4900 beliefs and to justify much human cruelty.
Received on Thu Jun 03 2004 - 15:08:33 BST