Welding galvanized steel creates zinc oxide fumes. If these fumes are inhaled in sufficient quantity, a condition called "metal fume fever" can develop. This is the result of irritation of the airways and the release of damaged proteins into the blood provoking an immune reaction. Symptoms are much like the flu. It will not kill you but you may wish you were dead for 24 to 48 hours or so.
Milk will NOT prevent the condition from developing. (You aren't eating the zinc, you are inhaling it.) Milk may be helpful in settling the stomach and reducing the nausea that is one component of the fever.
Zinc is NOT a carcinogen. It is an essential nutrient. You can buy it in the vitamin section of any supermarket or pharmacy. You can spread zinc oxide on your lips and face to ward off high alpine sunburn. As with any substance, ingesting too much zinc can lead to high blood concentrations, which MAY contribute to some of the misery of metal fume fever. But the main cause of metal fume fever is irritation of the airways.
Metal fume fever can develop from other metals besides zinc. Some of these really are carcinogens and can cause lasting damage beyond the acute sickness. Chromium, lead, and beryllium are examples.
Do a google search on "metal fume fever" and read the material for yourself.
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Today's Featured Article - What Oil Should I Use? - by Francis Robinson. I keep seein this question pop up over and over again in discussion groups all over the web. As with many things there are often several right answers and a few wrong ones. Some purist I'm sure will disagree to no end with what I will tell you but most of us out here in the real world don't really care do we ? Some of them only bring their noses down out of the air long enough to look down them anyway. If you are like me you are only doing this old tractor stuff because you enjoy it. You
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