Is it dangerous to sand off old chrome?

[Longhorn6120]

Asking for a friend...

 

[brightspark]

tell the friend to wear a mask any dust is bad for him

 

[Longhorn6120]

How bad?

I found an old Stanley No. 4 1/2 out in the shed and after the great success with the vice I thought I’d give it a citric bath and see how it cleaned up. The chrome plated lever cap was flaking so I - sorry, my friend, decided to try sanding the rest off with w&d. A fair bit came off, so a wire wheel in a grinder was employed to try and shift the rest (although this was only a few minutes and was done outdoors).

So not a huge amount of exposure and the w&d was a little damp - what kind of risk are we talking about?

 

[Bullet2012]

Well it was nice knowing you. Got anything worthwhile to leave me in your will ?

 

[a111r]

Sharp chrome flakes are best avoided.
It's the chemical compounds, such as chromium and lead, that are much more dangerous.

 

[northwest]

So not a huge amount of exposure and the w&d was a little damp - what kind of risk are we talking about?

None.

 

[RonA]

Have used Potassium Chromate in the past for Gum bichromate photography.
Told not to put the residue down the drain as it “eats” the brass
fittings, I was told you can’t get Potassium Chromate now because it’s so toxic.
Can’t believe the metal itself would any safer as it’s classed as a heavy metal pollutant.
We used to have a chromium processing plant near us (ask Brightpark) that was closed on environmental worries.
RonA

 

[Munkul]

Hard chrome is chromium, not chromate which is the dangerous one.

No dust is good for you, though!

 

[Longhorn6120]

Thanks all, that's put my mind at rest.

Contrary to my wife's beliefs I'm actually pretty diligent with H&S, but sometimes I do something which I later find out might be dangerous, so I thought I'd put it out there among some more experienced and knowledgable folk.

Think of it as a post-event risk assessment

 

[Munkul]

Thanks all, that's put my mind at rest.

Contrary to my wife's beliefs I'm actually pretty diligent with H&S, but sometimes I do something which I later find out might be dangerous, so I thought I'd put it out there among some more experienced and knowledgable folk.

Think of it as a post-event risk assessment

I love those retrospective risk assessments

 

[MattF]

No dust is good for you, though!

Living doesn't do us any favours, but we all do that. For a time.

 

[Longhorn6120]

I often wonder how many trips to A&E are preceding by the words “I could probably do it if it weren’t for this damn’ safety guard...”.

 

[colnerov]

Or "What could possibly go wrong?"

 

[daleyd]

"Hold my beer"....

 

[Maker]

"Hold my beer"....

Hold me, my beer wants to try something...

 

[RonA]

Hard chrome is chromium, not chromate which is the dangerous one.

No dust is good for you, though!

Toxic Metal Dust Danger

So what turns this incredibly useful item into a toxic metal dust health hazard? Learn more by reading this useful blog from Imperial Systems!

www.isystemsweb.com

Most exposure, though, occurs when stainless steel or other metals alloyed or coated with chromium are heated by welding, grinding, or cutting. The heat involved in these processes causes previously stable and harmless chromium to oxidize to its dangerous hexavalent form.