The end of the lead weight era

[dmaziuk]

Avoiding molybdenum must be espesially hard, it is everywhere.

I have it all over my bike, I sit on it, step on it. (Google "cromoly".) I think some higher-end knives might have it in the outer layers, too, those come in contact with food all the time. All those acidic juices that make toxic ions! RUN, RUN AWAY!

 

[MrVegas]

There are lots of inexpensive lead tests available. How about letting a few soft scuba weights sit in water in a tupperware container overnight and then testing the water? (I am almost not lazy enough to try that myself.) Just curious if anyone had ever done any testing to determine how much actually leaches into the water from scuba weights.

 

[MrVegas]

There does not seem to be a lot of scientific work on lead scuba weights and toxicity, but I did find two items that may be of interest:

1. A Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine article that found no elevated blood lead levels in 20 tested scuba divers using uncoated or bagged lead weights: https://www.eubs.org/documents/DHM Vol44 No4.pdf (page 243, or page 59 of the PDF).

2. A report from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health describing elevated lead levels in wading pool water and elevated blood lead levels in children who had played in the wading pool where leaded scuba weights were used to hold down the filter lines in the pool:
https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/hac/pha/PoolWaterinMassachusetts/ContaminatedPoolWaterHC3162010.pdf. In this report, it was noted that "upon inspection, the lead weights crumbled" and that they were deteriorating. It was suggested that the children had ingested the water in the pool. Fortunately, it sounded like the kids were going to be OK in the end.

I make no suggestions or recommendations, just passing on the reading for those that are interested.