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  for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Chrome Dust Hazards

2005

Hello,

I am curious to know the proper precautions for working with chrome dust. I am trying to mechanically strip old Japanese chrome car bumpers down to steel so that they can be filled and painted. I have stripped one so far in my shop using a "SandBlaster" sandpaper wheel on a high speed grinder. I am wearing gloves, a taped jump suit, and an organic vapor ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] with P95 particulate filters. I know that chrome can be very dangerous to work with during the plating process, but no one seems to talk about the hazards from the resulting dust. This stripping generates a lot of metal dust, and I am kind of scared.

Am I safe? How should I clean my shop?

Cassidy Clawson
Hobbyist - Santa Cruz, California, USA

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First of two simultaneous responses --

The dust you're dealing with is chrome metal, not hexavalent chrome, and you probably need only filter out the dust/eye protection/etc. I'm NOT an industrial hygenist, but hex chrome is the carcinogen...not chrome metal.

James Totter, CEF
- Tallahassee, Florida
2005

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Second of two simultaneous responses --

Most of the particles you see are nickel, probably also steel from the base metal, but very few can be chrome due to its very low plate thickness compared to nickel (proportion 1:20 to 1:50). Now, metallic particles pose a potential health risk but it is a chemical substance (not the metal itself) known as hexavalent chromic ion that is a potent carcinogenic. Anyhow, mask, gloves and a thorough vacuum cleaning afterwards are a must.

Guillermo Marrufo
Monterrey, NL, Mexico
2005

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Nickel dust is definitely hazardous to your health and probably of more concern than the chromium dust.

Lyle Kirman
consultant - Cleveland Heights, Ohio
2005

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If all you want to remove is the chromium (not the nickel) you are going about it the hard way. Hydrochloric (muriatic) acid strips the chromium completely in a few minutes. Of course, then there is the spent acid to dispose...

Paul Morkovsky
- Shiner, Texas, USA
2005