Cyanide Zinc Plating Plant in Residential Area

A. Hi Tom. I certainly can't blame you for not wanting a plating shop 40 feet from your house; I wouldn't want one behind mine! But neither would I want a convenience store or fast food restaurant or liquor store, which might be even more dangerous due to traffic and potential hold-ups & muggings; and certainly not a gas station. Are you looking for a realistic assessment of the dangers or are you (understandably) opposed to it and looking for ammunition to fight it? Because I'll give you the former, whereas if you are seeking the later, you won't be happy with it.

The fact is, in the U.S.A., thousands of plating shops are located in the old urban "mixed use" areas that closely resemble Dublin. Virtually every medium size and large city has plating shops located near stores, houses, and apartment buildings. There was a notable accident in 1947 but in a career of over 40 years living & breathing this industry, I have never heard of a neighbor injured by a plating operation. I'm not saying it has never happened or can't happen, but it's clearly a truly extreme rarity.

Good luck.

A. I'll second what Ted has said. We have the same situation in Auz and having worked in a small family-owned plating shop for over 30 years have not had any problems. In the current era, environmental considerations have a much greater influence over our industry and I can't see why Ireland would be any different from Australia.

A. I have a hard time believing that this firm was photographed pouring acid down an open drain, and no regulatory authority will take action on it. I personally know two platers in the USA who served penitentiary time for similar violations.

You inquired on this issue a few months ago and I and Bob Lynch already offered our thoughts as requested--please review them above.

I am not at all unsympathetic to your situation, Tom, I understand -- nobody really wants anything in their backyard, be it a fast food restaurant, a plating shop, or a windmill. But you're certainly not looking for a balanced assessment, you are looking for ammunition to torpedo the plating shop's plans. To expect the shops, suppliers, and consultants who are paying the cost of operation of this site (for which you are paying nothing), to also spend their time to volunteer the ammunition you seek is probably a bit unreasonable. They're welcome to do so, but I don't think they will. Please hire an advocate!

A. If you need more response, I will chip in and also agree with Ted. I question your motives for gathering this type of information. Are you giving this plater a fair assessment, or are you out to get them?

Buildings catch on fire whether it is a residential home, or a business. Hopefully, this plating company was doing what it could to prevent an accidental fire.

Also, I would really be surprised if the new plating facility did not include plans for a complete wastewater treatment system that would prevent hazardous chemicals from being discharged into the environment. There are governmental agencies in most Western countries that regulate, investigate, and enforce environmental legislation. Plans for this plant surely must have secured environmental approval.

A. Nothing wrong in being concerned and making sure the authorities stay on top of cleaning up a toxic eyesore, but to the best of my knowledge no neighbor in all of America has suffered personal injury from a toxic release from a plating shop in the almost 50 years I've been in this business. If I missed a case or two, hopefully a reader will correct me, and I apologize in advance for my error -- but it is absolutely not something to obsess about.

A. I used to live in Oakland. I would probably recognize the name of the shop.

I have worked with cyanide for many years. When I tell people who are not involved with chemicals this, they look at me like I was some kind of suicidal lunatic.

What I tell them, and what I will tell you: gasoline is a more dangerous substance in every way.

To harm you, cyanide must get in you somehow. You could add acid to it and breathe the fumes. You could eat it. Or, you could get enough in a cut to poison you. That's pretty unlikely - a lethal dose is a piece about a third of the size of an aspirin tablet. No, that's not much...but how will that happen?

Gasoline evaporates, and the mixture it makes with air will explode. Chronic exposure to gasoline will cause numerous health problems. Chronic sub lethal exposure to cyanide ... well, it's not recommended, but it's not a cumulative toxin, either.

Don't be anxious. There is little to fear.

A. Thanks for mentioning "non cumulative", Dave; that's crucial. Cyanide is an acute poison, very fast acting and fatal in a fairly small quantity ... but apple pips, almonds and other foods contain cyanide. I once read an estimate that 10 pounds of lima beans would be a fatal dose of cyanide, but you can probably eat limas every day without fear. :-)

Regards,

Thanks Dave & Ted for responding to my question! As it turns out, the facility was not in conformance with the law, and the city notified the owner that they had to clean the whole place out, and (we - local residents - think) fined them before they finally got moving. We've been watching them clean it out, starting with a team of hazmat-suited people, then removal of many vats of chemicals, and now they're on to cleaning the concrete floors with solutions and wet-dry vacs. I've heard that the building is slated for demolition, which I have mixed feelings about, since it means we're losing industry and probably adding more high end residential, which this neighborhood is slowly being replaced by. Good situation for property owners, bad situation for local artists, fabricators, and the neighborhood that's being replaced.

Thanks again - glad to find a place to ask about this on line!

A. Hi Dawn. It was decades ago, but I remember visiting a shop that did various types of plating from fused cyanide salts (molten salts), as well as salt nitriding, and I'm still here. Even when molten, cyanide salts do not evolve gasses beyond the capacity of a simple exhaust hood. I think I would agree that the temperature of the bath is probably not an important factor in determining the evolution of cyanide from an aqueous plating bath.

Regards,

A. I agree with Ted regarding the evolution of cyanide gas. However, with inadequate or non-existent ventilation, the smell of ammonia ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] can be alarming.

Ammonia??
Where did that get into the conversation?
This might shed a little light.
https://www.academia.edu/10635761/Cyanides_in_Metal_Finishing_Risks_and_Alternatives .