Workplace chemical exposure can last a lifetime!

In his blog, Martin MC Brown talks about how laser printers pose a possible health risk. I could not agree more, although today's printers do have better filters. Provided you change them on time, filters help catch some of the unused toner particles which contain all manner of chemicals that can't be good to inhale. Having examined physiology, physics and biology, I'm always fascinated about any health risks posed by pieces of office equipment. As a young man, I worked in an electronic assembly plant building and cleaning electrical components for over half a year.  One piece of equipment that was a health risk was the vapor degreaser we used to strip and clean residual flux off circuit boards. It allegedly used trichloroethylene (TCE) with which we now know humans should not come into contact. Here is how the California Department of Health Services put it, "Trichloroethylene mainly affects the central nervous system (the brain), causing headache, nausea, dizziness, clumsiness, drowsiness, and other effects like those of being drunk. TCE can also damage the facial nerves, and it can cause skin rash. Heavy exposure can damage the liver and kidneys. TCE causes cancer in animals and may cause cancer in humans."  I cringe every time I think about working around that piece of equipment for the better part of nine months, even though it was over a quarter of a century ago. I'll keep you posted.