After a year of this, I discovered these tools were made of beryllium copper.
I know exactly how I will be dying; the best part is that that company doesn't exist anymore. There's no one to sue.
That's beyond words.
Have you got lung damage?
Nothing too terrible yet. I have some scar buildup in my throat, and a general loss of elasticity. Had a pretty nasty scare last year where I swallowed and tore a blood vessel, which then caused such swelling I lost the ability to swallow altogether.
BUT, I didn't make that post to elicit sympathy; I was just trying to give y'all a grasp of how bad the industry is for the people that work in it, and those around them, in addition to the environmental damage. It doesn't require a major oil spill to damage things.
You know those tarballs everyone is scared of? The ones that are really carcinogenic? If you work on an oil rig, you'll be bathed in the stuff regularly. That carries over into their day to day life; there are even special laundromats for people to take their clothing to wash the stuff out. That gets on their spouses and wives, vehicles etc. Beyond just crude, you've got the lovely chemicals we use to put in the hole.
Drilling mud is composed of all sorts of things, from pure lye to pecan shells. On land this is usually stored in an open mud pit, with naught but a plastic sheet and a dirt wall between it and the land beyond. I've known of several instances where this mud has 'escaped'. They just plow it under the ground and pretend it didn't happen.
Anyway. I'll leave my rant at that.