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Can temperatures produce zinc fumes in the Galvanized Steel Zinc-Plated Feuerhand Hurricane Lantern? 5

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Pantomath

Pantomath

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Oct 1, 2020
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Hello Community,

I am in no way knowledgeable in metals and metallurgy so I am seeking out my answers. The bulk of my current knowledge has been obtained by googling, yet a fundamental answer that I am seeking for cannot be found. I seek my answer now here, in this post.

I want to purchase the Feuerhand Hurricane Lantern 276 Zinc-Plated (kerosene fuelled) which can be found on Feuerhand's main website and further details are there .

I am able to purchase this product from a local distributor. It is made of galvanized steel which I understand it means that the base metal is steel and the exterior is based on zinc. Galvanizing a product means to apply a thin coating of zinc to a thicker base metal. There are multiple methods such as Hot-Dip Galvanizing, Pre-Galvanizing and Electrogalvanizing. Zinc is used because it is anti-corrosive.

I have learned that welding galvanized steel over a certain temperature causes toxic fumes. For example, hot-dip galvanized steel recommended maximum temperature for long-term, continuous exposure is 200°C (392°F) and anything over potentially causes toxic fumes. I have learned that kerosene lanterns (not cooking lanterns), in general, can produce heat from the vents at temperatures of 500°F to 700°F and even way higher in the thousand and upward mark.

My question is, shouldn't such temperatures definitely turn the zinc into fumes? The answer cannot simply be to make sure you use it outside in a well-ventilated area, case closed. Lanterns are not used in such a straight forward way. You occasionally bring a lantern into cabins or tents, you might huddle around it outside and you might carry it into a cave opening and so on. I feel like I am missing a part of the equation that explains that there is no zinc danger due to high temperatures on such a product. I also could be right and this is the risk people take to use such a product. This product is offered to be powder-coated with choices of different colours, but I want the non-powder-coated for my own reasons. The sought after help will be based on galvanized steel zinc plated only.
 
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3DDave, I appreciate your links, so let me first thank you for your efforts to post to me. Now let me say that the "Prop 65 Warning" on what seems like all lanterns Florida recognizes is based on the actual lantern. So in other words, the lantern itself "as is" and not what it will be used for and or what might potentially be put in it.
 
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I do not know if it is called Prop 65. I am repeating what TugboatEng said it was called as he seemed to recognize what I am talking about. I do know that the warnings on lanterns first proclaimed the reproduction warning and then provided a link to the hazard law. The link led me to a heavy written understanding of that law in Florida. It was not as clear as I wished. Are you interested in the link? I am sure I can pull it up again.
 
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I looked up Prop 65. It is from California. This might be it. I was able to pull up lanterns with warnings on them referencing Prop 65 for example . At the bottom it says "California Prop 65: WARNING: This product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects and other reproductive harm.". Using this lantern as an example, what are the chemicals that are known to cause cancer, birth defects and other reproductive harm? They are talking about the lantern not what goes into the lantern. They say "this product contains". Is it the paint? Are they warning in case the paint gets chipped off and accidentally swallowed? Is it that the paint can fume if too hot or left to burn for too long? Is it the metallurgy of the lantern? The add says nothing about what it is made out of. I have seen warnings like that for higher priced lanterns and not just inexpensive ones. I am left by my own regards to try to eliminate the danger. The warning is severe enough to take seriously. Anyways, I have gotten good responses to the question for this thread topic.
 
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Have you ever heard of the story, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"? Prop 65 is an example of that. Nobody takes it seriously. It is completely meaningless. In fact, most people laugh at it.
 
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Prop 65 was never completely about protecting the public; it was also about allowing manufacturers to protect themselves from lawsuits. Any manufacturer would be silly to not have a Prop 65 warning, since it's a complete get out of jail card, because no one can sue such a manufacturer 30 years after the purchase for causing cancer, etc., since they were warned by the Prop 65 warning.


This seems like a classic case of "paralysis by analysis." Consider what it takes to get a welder into a state of zinc poisoning, and then consider how a lantern is used, how often, and how close you would need to be to even get 1/1000th of the dose that a welder might get. Do you drive a car? Every car has a Prop 65 warning; it's almost impossible to not have one.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list
 
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Pantomath said:
as a corrosion inhibitor. How then does it affect the performance?
Click to expand...

Prolonged exposure to high temperatures can (note that I didn't say say will- there are other factors besides temperature at work) cause the zinc coating on galvanized parts to delaminate from the substrate. If it delaminates over a large area it is no longer providing corrosion protection. Interestingly enough, if zinc coatings fail in very small areas (small pits, etc) they still provide corrosion protection by virtue of being the more reactive metal in the galvanic couple.

Regarding Prop 65- echoing what the other posters are saying, Prop 65 was originally intended to clearly indicate if a product actually represents a health hazard. Because our society has become more and more litigious over time, and because of the complicated nature of manufacturing consumer products, it has become standard that unless you a manufacturer can prove unequivocally that there are no Prop 65 listed chemicals used in any part of the manufacturing of their products, that product gets the warning applied. In many cases companies apply the prop 65 warning even if there are no listed chemicals used- this protects them in case something they use gets listed in the future, or if a supplier tweaks a paint formula without their knowledge, or whatever.

The ultimate end result is that nearly every product sold has a Prop 65 warning either on the product itself or buried somewhere in the paperwork you get in the box that no one ever reads.

A Prop 65 warning does not indicate that a consumer product actually represents a health hazard. Lack of a Prop 65 warning doesn't indicate that it's safe, either.
 
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"Alcoholic beverages" is on that list.

Uh-oh.

:)

That Prop 65 disclaimer is just mandatory wording for anything sold in California no matter what it is, which means ... it's meaningless.
 
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