Zinc wire pot stand,Don't breath in

Many designs for pot stands are made with Zinc dipped wire mesh.This metal when subjected to high temperatures can be very unhealthy to breath.If you look at your stand when done cooking you may notice a light yellow sublimate or coating on the metal,this is not good to breath in.I'm not sure how the fumes of heating the zinc would combine with your food but don't hang out over your cook pot,ventilation would most definitely be your friend here.While traveling through the Palmerston area PA take a good look around,what your seeing is the clean-up from a Zinc smelter that operated to process the Zinc that came from a Zinc mines in NJ and know by many names.Any thoughts on this subject?as I could not find any when searching zinc,pot stand,or the like.Any alternatives to the wire mesh used by many?

duplicate post

Yep, don't breath<STRONG>e</STRONG> in, hold your breath. :)

From the Brasslite stove website do-it-yourself page:

0.5 inch stainless steel wire cloth. Can also be gotten from McMaster-Carr. Search for "wire mesh", choose Type 304 stainless steel welded wire cloth 2x2 mesh per linear inch. It comes in 36in. width, but you have to buy a 3 sq. ft. minimum. It's possible to use 1/2in. galvanized wire cloth from a hardware store, but it has poor durability and is more difficult to solder. One square foot is enough to make 12 stoves.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tinker

Yep, don't breath<STRONG>e</STRONG> in, hold your breath. :)

From the Brasslite stove website do-it-yourself page:

0.5 inch stainless steel wire cloth. Can also be gotten from McMaster-Carr. Search for "wire mesh", choose Type 304 stainless steel welded wire cloth 2x2 mesh per linear inch. It comes in 36in. width, but you have to buy a 3 sq. ft. minimum. It's possible to use 1/2in. galvanized wire cloth from a hardware store, but it has poor durability and is more difficult to solder. One square foot is enough to make 12 stoves.

---

Galvanized wire cloth is zinc?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanization

Remember galvanized nails... cooking potatoes etc.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rocketsocks

.While traveling through the Palmerston area PA take a good look around,what your seeing is the clean-up from a Zinc smelter that operated to process the Zinc that came from a Zinc mines in NJ and know by many names.Any thoughts on this subject?as I could not find any when searching zinc,pot stand,or the like.Any alternatives to the wire mesh used by many?

---

I got to talking to a guy who worked for the health department in Palmerton while staying at the "jail house". He told me the high levels of zinc in the local vegetables actually had postive health benifits for the locals who ate them. Of course, way too much of a good thing isn't good, as can be seen by the lunar landscape of the ridge just behind the smelter facility.

The heat from an alcohol stove might be enough to cause a chemical reaction with the zinc coating on the wire and the air, but as for producing fumes, I find this unlikely. There might be some other coating on the wire which will burn off, but once it's gone, it's gone. Before you could get fumes from zinc, it would first have to melt and I doubt an alcohol stove could reach that kind of temps, even if you put the wire right into the flame.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rocketsocks

Galvanized wire cloth is zinc?

---

Answered by mudhead - steel that is zinc plated to resist rust (just in case other readers are in too much of a hurry to view the link he gave).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Slo-go'en

I got to talking to a guy who worked for the health department in Palmerton while staying at the "jail house". He told me the high levels of zinc in the local vegetables actually had postive health benifits for the locals who ate them. Of course, way too much of a good thing isn't good, as can be seen by the lunar landscape of the ridge just behind the smelter facility.

The heat from an alcohol stove might be enough to cause a chemical reaction with the zinc coating on the wire and the air, but as for producing fumes, I find this unlikely. There might be some other coating on the wire which will burn off, but once it's gone, it's gone. Before you could get fumes from zinc, it would first have to melt and I doubt an alcohol stove could reach that kind of temps, even if you put the wire right into the flame.

---

Hey I here what your saying.I have welded galvanized pipe in my job,it always gives me a head ache and contrary to what I've heard about drinking milk,it didn't work.Look,I take my minerals like many,but I think the reclamation of an entire Mountain kinda tells the story here,don't you?:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mudhead

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanization

Remember galvanized nails... cooking potatoes etc.

---

I never did that Mudhead,good idea,:cool:maybe steel nails would be a better choice in the future.I have heard of putting corn on the cob and potatoes under the hood of car on or near the block and to enjoy a nice picnic lunch after arriving at destination:)

Well, welding galvanized pipe is a whole lot different than being a few inches from an alcohol flame. Welding definately vaporizes the metals, something a stove in not capable of doing. So, your advice should be "when welding galvanized pipe, have good ventelation".

And as for reclimating a whole mountain (actually a ridge line), that again is many magnitudes of order different. Oh, and that operation had been going on for a very, very long time.

Agreed,good point.Hey i've noticed the light yellow powder on my galvanized pot stand after cooking with alcohol and was just wondering if that was good idea to be using that?:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Slo-go'en

Well, welding galvanized pipe is a whole lot different than being a few inches from an alcohol flame. Welding definately vaporizes the metals, something a stove in not capable of doing. So, your advice should be "when welding galvanized pipe, have good ventelation".

And as for reclimating a whole mountain (actually a ridge line), that again is many magnitudes of order different. Oh, and that operation had been going on for a very, very long time.

---

Hey where'd that last part come from.Again good point.Yeah know, I don't really care what other people do,or what they eat,or whatever,Just throwing it out there,and still wondering just what that light yellow sublimate was,and that it probably wasn't good for me to eat.:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tinker

Yep, don't breath<STRONG>e</STRONG> in, hold your breath. :)

From the Brasslite stove website do-it-yourself page:

0.5 inch stainless steel wire cloth. Can also be gotten from McMaster-Carr. Search for "wire mesh", choose Type 304 stainless steel welded wire cloth 2x2 mesh per linear inch. It comes in 36in. width, but you have to buy a 3 sq. ft. minimum. It's possible to use 1/2in. galvanized wire cloth from a hardware store, but it has poor durability and is more difficult to solder. One square foot is enough to make 12 stoves.

---

Tinker,thanks for the alternative material "s.s.mesh",ya that's a little pricey,might have to bite the bullet,but that's probably healthy either;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rocketsocks

,and still wondering just what that light yellow sublimate was,and that it probably wasn't good for me to eat.:)

---

Well yea, the yellow gunk is probably something you don't want to get into your food if you can help it - unless it came from your food, maybe yesterdays oatmeal? I threw away my collage chemistry books a long time ago, so I can't guess what kind of reaction might cause the yellow stuff. Sulfer compond maybe? Maybe it's reaction between the zinc and alcohol fumes.

I've never used a galvanized wire pot stand, so I have never seen what your talking about. Has anyone else?

Maybe Jim'll chime in.Ha thats funny Jim'll.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Slo-go'en

Well yea, the yellow gunk
I've never used a galvanized wire pot stand, so I have never seen what your talking about. Has anyone else?

---

The yellow gunk definitely comes from the hardware cloth. Does it with wood fire, propane torch.

Probably shouldn't lick it.

Sulfur was my first quess also, but I would think it would be from the wood you are burning rather than from the galvanized steel. Why the sulfur precipitates not sure, but it might have something to do with the zinc oxide coating the mild steel. If you have only been burning alcohol, I'm not sure where it would be coming from. Would be surprised if it was from the steel, even if it has some in it, which it might. As for the temperature of alcohol being hot enough to cause metal fume fever. Wood fuel certainly would be, alcohol, maybe not as much, but maybe some.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_fume_fever

The yellow deposits are probably a mix of several metallic oxides and impurities in the fuel and steel (e.g. HEET is 98-99% methanol but with some light oils and such mixed in), and most all steel is from recycled material so there are a lot of other metals in there that don't get completed burned or slagged off. Flame temperature is very dependent on conditions, but areas of a methanol flame (not the average temp which is much lower) can get in the 1900 C range, hot enough to vaporize small quantities of zinc, lead, and many other metals that may be on or near the surface of the hardware cloth. Pure zinc oxide is yellow when hot but white when cool - but impurities can make it anything from yellow to brown (the likely culprit), and one of lead's common oxides is yellow. Most steels used to make steel wire (including those later galvanized) contain small amounts of lead (lead helps with ductility and drawability in the drawing processes later) and many other elements are typically present, including sulphur, chromium, cadmium, copper (copper is bad, makes inclusions in the steel). I worked in a steel mill for some ten years. We were tested (blood) every 3-6 months for lead and other metals, but usually only those working near the arc furnace ever tested high. It is unlikely that exposure to fumes from heating a such a small amount of hardware cloth wire would cause any health issues such as "metal fume fever" that welders and smiths and those working in manufacturing occaisionally experience (in modern days only due to improper ventilation and poor safety practices). But yeah, I wouldn't lick it either.

Okay,So there you have it folks,Don't lick your pot stand.Thanks to all who chime'lled in.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rocketsocks

... While traveling through the Palmerston area PA take a good look around,what your seeing is the clean-up from a Zinc smelter that operated to process the Zinc that came from a Zinc mines in NJ and know by many names.Any thoughts on this subject?as I could not find any when searching zinc,pot stand,or the like.Any alternatives to the wire mesh used by many?

---

The "industrial desert" trail south (mostly west) and trail north (mostly east) of Palmerton was caused by sulfuric acid. The smelter at Palmerton was owned by New Jersey Zinc. Zinc ore is mostly zinc sulfide and part of the smelting process involved "roasting" the ore, resulting in sulphur dioxide being discharged into the atmosphere. Combined with water vapor in the atmosphere, this produces sulfuric acid which wound up killing nearly everything trail north and a lot of plants that don't tolerate acid soil to the south. That's why the blueberries thrive trail south of Palmerton. That area didn't get the full brunt of the acid discharge and blueberries love acid soil and not having bigger plants to shade them.

Zinc itself is harmless. In fact many take zinc supplements. What the yellow stuff that forms on galvanized wire pot supports is, I don't know, but I wouldn't consume it. As a side note, I would avoid the fumes from denatured alcohol and from HEET.

Thanks for the reply Handlebar,very interesting and thorough.One time (no not at band camp)at a battery plant,I was doing a job, in the Acid house(where the sulfuric acid was housed)a fine mist hung in the air.It was not until the rains came that an engineer told me that the rain water droplets combined with dry acid on my coat(which was cotton),and that was the reason half my coat was laying on the ground in pieces as I walked back from coffee break,and the other half would be gone by days end.Needless to say I was given a appropriate clothing after that.:-?not cool!but the price we all pay for.......

Hey Redeye,over here,hey PM sent.

Oops wrong RED...REDeye..there that looks better?

so will painting have any effect on this? will a coating a grill paint stop the fumes? I dunno if the paint will be durable though.

That is a great question,and maybe a good idea,who knows?I have used high temp paint on my wood burning stove and it holds up well.Wondering if painting would then pose any other problems?I will think about this and maybe try the paint to....lets stay in touch on this.

P.S. Tinkers Idea of Stainless Steel sounds like a real good alturnative.

Can the zinc coating be burnt off and over time have no effect?