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I Forge Iron

My heavy metals test


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I have had had bad heath for many years, it has gotten worse since I finished school, I got a hair test done the other day and my arsenic leaves were super high and off the chart, Mercury was also high, I always wear a double filter 3M mask and I don’t work with tantalised wood and I haven’t had my coal forge going for years, I do not understand where it is coming from? Would arc welding rods cause it?

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"Good Heavens Holmes, the green wallpaper did it!"    Before undergoing any treatment, please think about getting a second test by a reputable source may as there have been a number of "hair test scams" taking advantage of folks with medical issues over the years.

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I agree with Lee that the first thing you should look at is your drinking water (Occam's Razor).  Drinking water has been the source for many unexpected environmental pollutants.

Fumes from welding rods may cause problems.  I do not know enough about the coatings to say one way or another but I certainly would only use rods from a reputable manufacturer rather than some unknown and unregulated source that may play fast and loose with quality control.

Also, you may be more sensitive to certain things than the average person.  Humans vary in their tolerances to various things in the environment.  Think how much variance there is in allergies.

Good luck and make sure you approach the problem with reputable professionals.  We're just a bunch of black smiths.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

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Yes our drinking water is rain water, that is being tested, I am right out in the bush, I have suffered health problems for as long as I can remember and possibly my body cannot detox itself like normal people, 

but yes I do eat a lot of rice, my arsenic was right off the scale of the test, I am worried as my main work involves forging copper, but people sed I should be more concerned about the lead but that was normal in the test 

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If you're collecting rain off your roof then you're getting whatever dust is landing on as well.

I'd get at least one more test done, maybe a couple. Blood oh yeah. Hair is "porous" and it's "POSSIBILE" for certain chemicals to infiltrate hair for a false positive test. I have no solid info regarding hair tests, it's hearsay from talking to my endochrinologist some years ago. 

I don't know what kind of doctor you should be talking to and it's even tougher living remote. 

Keep on it Brother, we're pulling for you.

Frosty The Lucky.

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I had to not wash my hair for a week, then the hair samples are sent to Germany, it’s very expensive and not covered by our public health system so I have to foot the bill.

I had blood tests done and they don’t show anything and they are not reliable, I even had a copper and lead test witch were both normal, the specialist was wondering did I eat a lot of seafood but I don’t because I can’t stand the stuff.

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Just outside of Las Vegas out by Nellis AFB there is an area  used by locals to do some off-roading. There are several signs mentioning high arsenic levels in the soil, and to not breath the dust.

Welding rods are being associated with Parkinson's type symptoms now. The main culprit is manganese, which is in most steels today. You may want to ask for them to specifically check for that.  

Copper alloys can contain lead, and nickel depending on the alloy. We used a lot of leaded nickel copper in the screw machines when making electrical connectors. C96 was one of our main alloys in use at the shop.

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