Zinc, galvanized, and coatings

Hi all I'm very new to this and am just finding my way around. I have a large steel pipe fence that I want to use and cut up. The problem is is that on the inside of the pipes (the outside is painted) are dark grey and show barely any corrosion, just little flecks of rust. Anyway I have read about the fume fevers you can get when working with this stuff and I want to be as safe as possible when it comes to that. How can I tell if this is coated with zinc or not? I can't really get in there to look since it's a 2" wide pipe, nor can I file it off. Sorry if this is comes off as a dumb question, but I really want to begin without getting sick from fumes. I can't wait t…

Foreword: It seems every few weeks someone addresses a question to the Forums about the hazards of welding, forging or otherwise heating galvanized (Zinc) or Cadmium coated steel. Whenever this happens there is one or more suggestions to

What is the white stuff that appeared when the pipe was welded to the flat bar? What did one pipe have it and not the other? Yes, I know the answer, but someone has to ask the question.

I am just as frugal as the next guy, and methods of saving money on steel, iron, coal and other materials are important to me. However, I do not place any measure of my materials cost against potential hazards to my health. I feel there is no reason to try and use any galvanised material whatsoever as the danger to my health and my work environment is too high. Everyone who has asked me to work with unknown materials has recieved the same answer - never. While I sympathise with someone's interest and enthusiasm, I feel there should be a line drawn in the sand. For those of you who have and continue to use galvanized materials in your forge, for your own sake I be…

Since Thomas Powers brought it up in the Zinc thread, and I remember vagely that the vapors of cadmium are seriously bad news, I've got a few questions. What are the effects? Not sure I want to know details, but "kills ya dead", or "makes ya sick as heck" are good enough for me. And, what kind of parts have it included in their alloys. I've heard brasses and bronzes (also mentioned by Thomas) sometimes use it. I collect spent ammo brass for casting. This stuff ok? Jeff