Any one ever had this happen?

[Ray Bennett]

I was grinding off the tops of the anti-kick back links on a chain someone gave me. I must have breathed in a lot of metal vapors or small fragments. about a day or two later I got a high fever and started coughing up nasty stuff. Finally after getting it out my lungs fever broke and I'm better. I have never been so sick. I have not missed a day of work in over 13 years and was gonna call in but at the last minuet I chocked the majority of it out and went in with a small fever and pounding headache. I feel like a real idiot but have never had this happen before. I think it was cause I did not have the good ventilation I normally have all the doors and windows were shut and to make it worse the florescent lights were not working in my shop because of the cold. There fore I had to get closer to the grinder than normal in order to see. Any one heard of this? It has made me wonder how much we take in when sharpening a chains. And is sharpening chains something that could cause problems years from now if we don't wear a mask.

 

[Lakeside53]

I don't know of short term effects, but the silicosis (sp?) you can get from grinding wheel dust is bad news.... it's like "black lung" and other similar conditions.

It's partly why I use CBN wheels... The iron isn't so bad... chromium though is another story.

Yep, we all should wear N95 masks, but....

 

[Fish]

I am recovering from the same thing myself, though I don't think it is
from sharpening chains. I call it a cold, flu, or whatever.
Inhaling vaporized oil is real bad on the lungs, but whatever you had, if
it was caused by something you had done to yourself, it would have not waited 2 days to hit you.

 

[doc874]

Minute particles of medal dust can have long term repercussions causing lung damage. The black lung Lake talks of is mainly associate with the minining industry, particularly "coal" mining. There is also painters lung etc... Grinding wheels and disc material can also be problamatic with fine particles of metal and dust becoming lodged in the lung linings etc... this may not affect you short term but as you age it could manifest into all kinds of nasty things like cancer. The only real preventive measure is to wear a mask with good filters, goggles for the eyes and good ventilation. Always think safety and health, the monies spent on a good mask will have long term benefits so its worth it. I'm sure you won't make the same mistake again and thanks for sharing this as alot of memebers here probably don't think much about it either. Good post.

 

[2manytoys4me]

i am very prone to sinus infections, got a good one the last time i was cleaning up some rusty tools on grinder. now i wear a mask and have a fan blowing on me when i grind or weld

 

[Mold Mechanic]

I wouldn't think you would notice it from short term, I could understand coughing up black stuff if you inhaled enough. When I was in Tech School, our welding instructor was having some breathing problems and went to the doc...The doctor accused him of smoking 3 packs a day. He said he's never smoked a cigarette in his life, but had been welding for 30+ years.

 

[habanero]

I would tend to agree with Fish that it was probably just a coincidence that you got sick at about the same time as grinding on the chain. Like he said, self-inflicted stuff like that usually doesn't take a day or two to hit you.

I do think, though, sometimes particulate matter or fumes can make "normal" flu and cold symptoms worse. I've noticed if I have sort of a low-grade infection going on, then inhale a lot of dust, all of a sudden I'm coughing and hacking and really miserable.