Clark wrote:
Robert Allison wrote in

Peweter/gray sounds like galvanized iron pipe which used to be commonly
used for potable water systems. A Sharkbite wouldn't be a good idea for
that pipe since the water would be exposed to the zinc. Avoid breathing
any fumes if you apply heat to break the joint loose. Zinc poisoning is
not fun. If you do breath fumes and wake up tomorrow with aching
joints, drink lots of milk. Don't ask how I know this...

Just a note here about zinc poisoning. You are not going to
get zinc poisoning from heating a galvanized pipe. If you cut
it with a oxy/acetylene torch, and you cut enough of it, you
may get poisoning. To counteract the effects of zinc
poisoning, you must drink milk BEFORE any symptoms appear, or
it is too late. You won't die, but you will be sick. It
takes quite a bit of cutting of galvanized materials to get it
however and unless one is super susceptable to zinc, one pipe
will not do it.

And you MAY ask me how I know. I have cut ALOT of galvanized
materials in the industrial world and have suffered the
effects only once, but that was enough for me.

Educational mode off!


You may believe your statements but they aren't entirely true. It doesn't
take much zinc to cause problems. Bottom line, don't take a chance. Also,
milk helps even after the fact.

I believe it because it was what I experienced and was taught
while employed by Brown & Root, Valkem, Payne & Keller, just
to name a few. We were given safety classes in the hazards
that we would and did face on a day to day basis while working
in chemical plants, oil refineries and power plants.

Although the safety personnel and the medical personnel that
gave us our safety instructions were careful to point out that
milk is NOT an accepted treatment for metal fume fever, we
were told to come to the safety office and drink milk under
the supervision of a safety officer BEFORE we were allowed to
torch cut, grind, or weld on galvanized. Typical CYA in action.

Here is a bit more safety info on this condition for those
that may be torch cutting or welding galvanized metal:

http://hazmap.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/ha...Diseases&id=69

You may notice that no mention is made about milk. That is
because it is NOT considered a valid treatment. Milk works
great if you drink it before ingesting fumes. The half gallon
that I drank after the fact had no effect whatsoever and I had
symptoms for 24 hours after exposure.

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX