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Coma caused by welding galvanized metal

This is in regards to a man now in the hospital from inhaling galvanized metals while welding. After which he returned home and thought he was coming down with a cold-cough, for which he took cough medicine with alcohol. I understand that alcohol makes the reaction worse. He then went into cardiac arrest and now is in a coma and has been for about 2 and 1/2 weeks. My question is, is there an antidote to this poisoning, and can anything else be done for this man?

Vicki D [surname deleted for privacy by Editor]
welder - Florence, South Carolina
2004

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Vicki,

You are making an assumption that he has zinc poisoning. If this possibility was told to the staff of the hospital, they could run blood tests to confirm it. Florence is a large enough city that it should have a doctor on staff that could answer your medical question better than a bunch of platers.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
2004

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Hi Vicki. Metal fume fever does indeed exhibit flu-like symptoms but lasts only for a couple of days. That's the only effect of an overdose of zinc that I personally know of. That's not to downplay it; no one should get it, and who knows for sure that it never has any long term cumulative effects. But the point is, the problem this gentleman is having certainly may have nothing to do with welding fumes; please don't assume that the doctors are wrong in their assessments of the situation.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey