[menty666]

I love the internet, you can cherry pick the information that either supports or disproves your cause du jour.

I'm glad you feel better, get out there and torch....with adequate ventilation for the space you're working in.

There are some simple rules that makes what amounts to an industrial craft safer:

* Use ventilation with adequate make up air. Adequate will vary according to YOUR working area.

* Wash your hands after you finish to get particulates off your hands: glass dust, bead release, metals.

* Wear eye protection. For most soft glass, the Didy/ACE lenses are just fine. Blue eyed folks tend to like a little more protection because blue eyes tend to be more sensitive. I work boro and wear full coverage shade 5 lenses and I've still managed to get a radiant burn on my eyeballs. I've been at this for over 7 years now and know better and it still occasionally happens.

Also, heavy metal build up in the body is cumulative. So just because you were working with silver glass, foils, or fuming one day and you feel just fine, if you weren't working under your adequately sized vent, there's a good chance you may have inhaled some.

What we do boils down to "managed risk" I have a mid-range torch and it still makes a 4 foot plume of flame that I happily have my hands 3" from on either side. I can do this because I've taken precautions and steps to make the activity as safe as I can and I continue to be safety aware.