fumes when casting precious metals

[Artexperience]

Has anyone ever gotten sick from breathing in fumes (over time) while casting? We only cast precious metals!! Thinking outside the box since all typical run of the mill medical tests are coming back negative.

 

[CoolHandLuke]

it would make anyone sick; first consider the gas. propane is toxic and flammable but exposure can crack skin as it becomes cold when exposed to air. burning it produces co2 which can cause asphyxiation and symptoms relevant to smoke inhalation. then consider that metal surfaces tend to trap the particulate in the air to their surfaces, as well as absorbing the oils from your hands and bacterias, creating more carbon and material weeping from the metals themselves like arsenic. evaporated arsenic can be deadly.

wear your ppe, bottom line. of course, you are free to not wear it, but you'd be exposing yourself to damaging environmental byproduct.

 

[Artexperience]

it would make anyone sick; first consider the gas. propane is toxic and flammable but exposure can crack skin as it becomes cold when exposed to air. burning it produces co2 which can cause asphyxiation and symptoms relevant to smoke inhalation. then consider that metal surfaces tend to trap the particulate in the air to their surfaces, as well as absorbing the oils from your hands and bacterias, creating more carbon and material weeping from the metals themselves like arsenic. evaporated arsenic can be deadly.

wear your ppe, bottom line. of course, you are free to not wear it, but you'd be exposing yourself to damaging environmental byproduct.

Thank you for this response, definitely thinking of this seriously. Will do!

 

[grantoz]

do you have exhaust or catalytic burner on your burn out furnace?

 

[Artexperience]

do you have exhaust or catalytic burner on your burn out furnace?

We do have a pipe from the burnout furnace that leads to an exhaust fan.

 

[Sda36]

We do have a pipe from the burnout furnace that leads to an exhaust fan.

After 40 some yrs, only ever felt sick about an obvious miscast

 

[JMN]

Boss was refining himself once and od'd on flux. Lost almost all sense of smell forever and was very unwell for 4ish days. Long term, I think there's probably other options for likely culprits than casting in a dental lab..

 

[doug]

We have good ventilation and it only takes about 30sec, maybe, to get the metal molten and cast. I don't think I have that aspect of the lab to be concerned with. I spent 5 years in the model dept and that was in the '70's when no one ever used a mask. My lungs were in pretty good shape, until this COVID-19 crap, but I'll be better soon enough.
I have, for the last 34 years, maintained good ventilation and suction, as well as using masks. We quit casting about three years ago, unless there is something we absolutely have to take care of.