"mickey" wrote:

Just curious, would not a NIOSH organic vapor respirator help? (I mean
the darth vader mask, not the flimpsy paper ones). My guess is, if you

An organic vapor mask won't protect against lead fume because lead
fume isn't an organic vapor. Lead fume is a very small particle.

own a boat, you have the half-mask at least anyway (and if not, my
opinion is you should if you ever do bottom or epoxy jobx). All you'd
need is a new set of cartridges if you don't already have the organic
vapor ones; if you do enough of your own boat work to build your own
lead sounder, you should probably already own some serious protective
gear.

I don't knwo what the danger is with lead (other than eathing the paint
like candy), but, as said, was curious.

In men, lead can damage sperm and affect the sperm's ability to move.
It can affect the number of sperm that is produced in the testes.
These effects on sperm can harm a man's ability to father children and
have been linked to miscarriages and birth defects in their partners.
These health effects can occur at 40-50 ug/dl. Some studies have also
indicated that lead can affect a man's sex drive and ability to have
an erection.

In women, exposure to high levels of lead may cause miscarriages,
premature births, stillbirths and decreased fertility. More recently,
some studies found that pregnant women with levels of lead in the
umbilical cord blood of 10-15 ug/dl had children who suffer from
learning and behavioral problems later in life. This is because lead
in the pregnant mother's blood passes into the blood of the fetus and
may affect brain development.

grandma Rosalie