Why is chrome plating so expensive?

[jnormanh]

And..., now..., as it might apply to something WE might actually do with chrome..., either grind on it, or weld. What are the precautions the average person with their likely short term and limited engagement with chrome need to take? Obviously it is dangerous. But if a few times in our lives we either grind or weld on it is it a profound risk? Or, is it a long term exposure that causes the problem?

I've heard that welding stainless releases chrome in some form. Are there any other metals we need to be concern about? Sadly I have a friend that is dealing with significant mouth/tongue/neck cancer. A welder by trade he worked for FedEx in their plane repair facility. Many of us can't help but think that the fumes from welding are a contributor to his cancer. Where the general stations had ventilation I can't help but think that he was also assigned to weld in confined areas also.

BTW, if you look at a complete vitamin label you will see that Chromium is actually a trace mineral. It kind of leaves one to wonder how they come to that determination???

You need not wonder about chromium being a necessary trace element for human survival. It's a long known fact, readily available on line or in any advanced biochemistry text at your local library. However,that chromium is the +3 varietry. Chromium +6 is a potential carcinogen.

Chromium which might result from grinding is +0, and of little or no risk,
.
One need not guess about the danger of welding fumes. There are entire books about the subject. If you are really interested, go to your local library where you will learn far more than on a car hobby forum.

[wittsend]

Was he a smoker?

No. Nor a drinker. He was not overweight, he ate somewhat healthy and exercised. He's only 59. Maybe just an oddity without cause??? Sort of like Christopher Reeve's wife getting lung cancer (a non-smoker) and dying not to may years after he did.

[wittsend]

Thank you for the information on the vitamin aspect of Chromium. Also the tip on grinding. As to reading a library full of info on welding fumes, I'll accept the cautions on the welding wire. My inquiry about welding and Chromium was to see if there was any additional, extreme cautions to take. Sort of like you are best off to open a window when using cleaning fluids, - but you should never mix ammonia and bleach.

[Jeffry Cassel]

I'm sure it is because the government (bureaucrats) saw a possible risk and took advantage of the situation to explode regulation beyond all reason and preserve and expand their bureaucratic empires. Asbestos is a great example. White asbestos is naturally occurring and nearly harmless. Smokers, who have already decided to greatly increase their chances of perishing of lung cancer, who worked with asbestos only added another tumor to the menu of lethal cancers. Non smokers run very little risk. So slick lawyers convinced 12 morons that asbestos was the worst thing ever and created a 36 billion dollar settlement against the industry for the poor victims of this wicked stuff. The #!** lawyers get half of the money. Not fair. Not rational. Not scientific. Not right.

[jnormanh]

I'm sure it is because the government (bureaucrats) saw a possible risk and took advantage of the situation to explode regulation beyond all reason and preserve and expand their bureaucratic empires. Asbestos is a great example. White asbestos is naturally occurring and nearly harmless. Smokers, who have already decided to greatly increase their chances of perishing of lung cancer, who worked with asbestos only added another tumor to the menu of lethal cancers. Non smokers run very little risk. So slick lawyers convinced 12 morons that asbestos was the worst thing ever and created a 36 billion dollar settlement against the industry for the poor victims of this wicked stuff. The #!** lawyers get half of the money. Not fair. Not rational. Not scientific. Not right.

.

What is not fair, not rational, not scientific, and not right is your statement above.

Slick lawyers, 12 morons? Wake up.

About 3000 people per year are diagnosed with mesothelioma, all of it caused by asbestos exposure, and it is virtually always fatal. Johns-Mansville and other asbestos producers were long aware of the danger, hid the information from their employees. So far about 100,000 have died from this preventable disease with more to come since the incubation period is measured in decades

Is 30 billion too much compensation and punishment? Given that the asbestos companies knew and did nothing, they have paid $300,000 for each death they caused, so far, with more deaths to come. What's your life worth?

Mesothelomia is a type of lung cancer, but it is not the same cancer as is caused by cigarette smoking. Non-smokers get mesothelioma at the same rate as smokers.

Breathing in asbestos has been proven, beyond any doubt, to be a cause of lung cancer. Not as bad as cigarette smoking, but clearly a cause.

The fact that asbestos occurs naturally is meaningless. When it is dispersed in the air people breathe it is a carcinogen. That's a fact beyond any doubt.

Do lawyers get a percentage of what they win for a plaintiff? Of course they do. If they don't win they get nothing.

If you're going to rant. Please gather a few basic facts. Facts are readily available from the National Cancer Institute and elsewhere. You don't have to make stuff up.

[48skyliner]

There is absolutely no doubt that asbestosis did cause lung cancer, but I personally never heard of anyone being affected except people who worked for years in facilities where asbestos products were made. Of course it could have affected people who worked installing asbestos insulation or repairing brakes with asbestos brake shoes. But the hysteria I saw at the time was amazing - people acting as though the stuff was a deadly poison, only to be handled if you were dressed in a full hazmat suit. I can think of three groups of people who benefited from all this - the lawyers, the people who are alive today because they lost their jobs making the asbestos products, and of course the manufacturers of fiberglass insulation.

I am reminded of the 1973 oil embargo, people waiting in line for hours to buy gasoline, and our president, who could do absolutely nothing about it, imposing a 55 mph speed limit on the nations highways. A few years later the Insurance Institute published some data that clearly proved that "reducing the speed limit has saved lives". The reduction in fatalities was enough to be statistically significant, beginning immediately after the reduced highway speed limit. The folks at one of the automotive magazines were highly suspicious and decided to do some investigating. Sure enough, the fatality rate had in fact decreased, but ALL OF THE DECREASE WAS ON ROADS WITH SPEED LIMITS BELOW 45 MPH, i.e. city driving. This was at a time when brakes and tires were dramatically improving.

As an interesting aside, I was an economic analyst for Boeing at the time, and one of my jobs was to predict the price of fuel for the coming year's airline operating cost analysis. The oil companies had been building oil storage tanks as soon as the oil embargo began, and we had the data on petroleum supplies stored in the U.S. At some point the "crisis" ended and suddenly gasoline was available, no more waiting in line. At that point, every available storage tank in the country was full and the quantity stored was far greater than at any previous time. Did any of you see this mentioned in the main stream media?

[t walgamuth]

Anyone can do that.

[aenthal]

While it isn't a good (or bad) thing that chrome plating prices have gone up over the years, it is a bad thing to let employers treat their human workers like disposable objects.
Chrome plating is not a benign process. Among the by-products can be deadly cyanide gas.
That the government steps in and regulates company owners, is for the protection of the people doing the plating for you, and our environment.
I do not want some high school dropout or impoverished immigrant becoming diseased or dying because my car bumpers need more shine.
I do not want my pets to die because they drank polluted stream water from some company, and I certainly do not want to come down with some environmentally caused illness myself.
It costs more, partially because cars do not use chrome bumpers and trim any more, so it is a specialty process, for collectible objects, not every day ones, and because it is a dangerous process.
Milk costs more, gas costs more, homes cost way more. About the only things that I can think of that cost less today, than they did 40 years ago, are long distance phone calls (now covered in the charge to have the phone itself, rather than charged by the minute) and TV sets, which could cost a months pay when TV was new.

[jnormanh]

While it isn't a good (or bad) thing that chrome plating prices have gone up over the years, it is a bad thing to let employers treat their human workers like disposable objects.
Chrome plating is not a benign process. Among the by-products can be deadly cyanide gas.
That the government steps in and regulates company owners, is for the protection of the people doing the plating for you, and our environment.
I do not want some high school dropout or impoverished immigrant becoming diseased or dying because my car bumpers need more shine.
I do not want my pets to die because they drank polluted stream water from some company, and I certainly do not want to come down with some environmentally caused illness myself.
It costs more, partially because cars do not use chrome bumpers and trim any more, so it is a specialty process, for collectible objects, not every day ones, and because it is a dangerous process.
Milk costs more, gas costs more, homes cost way more. About the only things that I can think of that cost less today, than they did 40 years ago, are long distance phone calls (now covered in the charge to have the phone itself, rather than charged by the minute) and TV sets, which could cost a months pay when TV was new.

I'm glad to hear your viewpoint. I spent my entire working career, 1964-2004 in the metal finishing business. I worked or was otherwise in everything from back-alley shops to the biggest and best industry shops. Way back when, it was a free-for-all. Hazardous wastes were dumped in the nearest field or stream. Worker training and safety provisions were almost non-existent. People were injured, some died. Rivers and streams were often devoid of life.

With the creation of OSHA and the EPA things began to turn around. It took some time, but today metal finishing is a reasonably safe and environmentally friendly business..

Contrary to all the howling and moaning at the time, the well run shops survived just fine, and the forecast "huge" costs added turned out to be 10 or 15%.

Chrome plating has not increased in cost much more than other things. In 1964 we charged $50 for a Model A radiator shell. At that time decent new tires were $20, gasoline was $.30, and my electric bill was 8 bucks.

Yes, some of the scabby shops went out of business, but the good shops complied, and many are thriving today.