Danger in handling chromate coated items?

A. Your letter has two parts--

1). It implies that chromate products for conversion coating are dangerous to the health of the workers, and I'm not sure that that has been demonstrated. I mean, sure, they are potentially dangerous--just as a boiling pot of water on a stove is potentially dangerous to a homemaker who is cooking dinner, and the gasoline in an automobile is potentially dangerous to the driver. Heck, it is potentially dangerous that a given codfish out in the ocean has bones--some fisherman might catch that particular fish, cook it, and choke on a bone.

There is no question that ingesting, inhaling, or regularly making skin contact with HIGH concentrations of hexavalent chromium is bad for the health. Chrome ulcers and damage to nasal tissue from chrome has been well known since at least 1928.

But I don't think there is yet any real evidence that normal occupational exposure to chromate conversion coatings causes any health problems (I'm not saying it doesn't--I suspect that it does, and hope that employees handling chromated parts are wearing gloves).

2). Most things are concentration sensitive. Even if at some point it is demonstrated that such occupational exposure causes problems, it will not be obvious or a foregone conclusion that the lower exposure that the public experiences is dangerous.

Your question is a very good one, to which I would love to know the answer, and I hope that some researchers are working on it.

A. I don't think Tom actually said quite that, Mr. Vahanwala, but here's the link you're referring to.

Funny . . . I have two sons.

I guess that proves that my knowledge of plating is just "book knowledge", not hands-on stuff.

A. I DO suggest that workers wear gloves, both as a matter of prudence about possible heath concerns, and to avoid ugly fingerprints on the work.

But, arghhhh . . . NO we did NOT say that workers in contact with chromated parts are exposed to a health hazard! We said it may be possible that they are, and I thought we made it crystal clear that we think research ought to be done to determine if it really is a health hazard or not.

The danger to people that use chromated parts is tested by the automotive industry. And yes, the employees wear gloves when assembling the chromated car parts.

These companies have a test using artificial sweet to test the amount of chromium rubbed off the parts. For that reason some automotive companies switched from zinc alloy chromated parts to e-coat or other finishes with organic polymers.