Started me when i saw my old thread back in the new post area! Honestly, if you're handling copper just for an hour or so a day, no big deal. Heck, longer is probably fine too. I am "allergic" too copper. I got sick in high school when we made "beads" out of small copper tubing. (cut a small chunk, heat it up with propane torch, dip it in this powder color stuff, heat more) it put off this nasty smoke that made me sick as a dog, for weeks.
Looking back, i know exactly how it got into my system. I read all the links provided by you guys, about how hard it is too detect, and how hard it is too even get into your system at high levels. When i worked on the degaussing cables, i was not in a ventilated area, and did not wear gloves, also didn't stop regularly too wash my hands. (Who does that when you're scrapping?!). Anyone who has unwrapped a degauss cable will know just how derned sticky some of them can be. You'll also notice small flakes of copper (and tarnish, i'm guessing) stuck to your hands with the glue. Well, working for 8-10 hours ONLY unwrapping, all the little cuts and dings in my hands would get filled up with this nasty glue-copper flake mixture. Holding it "on" my skin, and "in" the cuts. Also, when id take out/put in a dip, i didn't wash my hands. So the tobacco got touched with it as well.
None of that is OSHA approved. LOL.
Moral of the story: You're not going to get sick handling copper pipe all day with no gloves. You're not going to get sick working a
wire stripper all day with no gloves. You WILL get sick, if you are allergic to copper and aren't smart enough to wash the **** glue-copper mixture off your hands.
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