Brandie,
i'm so sorry to hear about this (and hope you're feeling better) but at the same time thanks so much for sharing. This thread really got me thinking... Here are some links i found helpful.
an interesting (and fairly recent) medical paper on the effects/symptoms of long term metal poisoning:
http://www.aaem.pl/pdf/aaem0009.htm
metal fume fever (often confused with acute bronchitis):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_fume_fever
a blacksmith who died under similar circumstances:
http://www.anvilfire.com/iForge/tutor/safety3/index.htm
this link includes a list of chemicals and the symptoms caused by each:
http://www.weldguru.com/metal-fume-fever.html
the downdraft diagram here looks interesting:
http://www.safetyoffice.uwaterloo.ca...ng/welding.htm
this info is specifically for glass artists:
http://www.ci.tucson.az.us/arthazards/glass.html
wow, a ceramicist actually wrote a book about this for other artists!:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/potier/237216472/
here's the author's bio (he was previously a surgeon):
http://www.pshcanada.com/Toxicology.htm
2002 safety info from the ISGB:
www.isgb.org/info/safety/uploads/swsafety.pdf
After reading all this, that respirator i had on the bottom of my buy list just jumped up to the top as a requirment.
