^^ I cannot 'like' this comment enough^^ My dad was an electroplater. (hexavalent chromium is used in chrome plating) Hexavalent chrome fumes are always in the air in a chrome shop - not to mention the acid fumes - because the baths HAVE to be heated for the procedures to work - Sulphuric, Nitric AND hydrofluoric are common, so is hydrochloric, but also cyanide compounds, too. Hydrochloric, sulphuric and nitric acids are easy to neutralise with household ingredients Sodium bicarbonate for nitric and caustic soda for HCl and H2SO4). He was exposed to these fumes for many years (because it's the way that the chrome plating is normally applied). It's nasty stuff, alright. It has a metallic and sweet smell to the fumes. When it comes to lung cancer risks - it puts the risks from smoking back into the "insignificant" category. It's up there with MEK in the seriously "This shit will give your grandchildren cancer (before you've had them)" stakes. Aspirated and ingested cadmium is also bad for you. You shouldn't airbrush ANY paint with cadmium or chromium in them unless you have a proper forced air respirator as Section9 says. Just don't lick your brushes anyway, it's disgusting. Take a lesson from the "Radium Girls" and don't do it. As for aspirating lead particulates ... They have to be pretty fine for you to inhale them, I'm talking more fine than filings off a mini. You pretty much have to reduce them to a fine powdered form to be able to aspirate it - it's heavy - if a kitchen extractor fan won't pick it up, it's odds against you being able to breathe it in normally. Don't stick them in your mouth. Don't lick your hands after handling metal minis. Wash hands with soap and water thoroughly before licking your hands or preparing food. Don't make lines of the filings and huff them. Not even as a joke. Or wear gloves. PPE is your friend. Do it often enough and you don't even have to think about doing it, it becomes a reflex. The people who CAST the minis get blood tested (at the very least) quarterly because they are exposed to the airborne fumes and CAN breathe the stuff in. The people who used to work at our local smelter were tested monthly for the same reasons. PPE is your friend. Random gamers who handle the odd few metal minis (it's all relative) should have much lower exposure levels if you follow the normal safe handling instructions.
Reaper forum has some interesting data about Lead (start with linked thread), as the staff posts there. To begin, Lead Oxides are worse than plain Lead. Exposure via miniature handling is minimal (alloyed to other things) and solved with some extra things and proper sanitation (clean hands and work area, as Chromedog said). BTW, for flying metal parts, you want glasses, instead of trying to cut in weird ways (which can cause injuries or destroy parts, because you are not cutting but also trying to hide, so to speak). For Lead dust, gloves even before masks. Sand and cut in wet form too (add oil, work shoaking in water pot, etc). If one pays attention, you notice how air ducts are placed around CB machines. Same with people airbrushing or applying podwer coatings. To get an idea, search for videos and pictures of miniature casters, or paint shops doing fridges or scooters (I remember USA & EU factory videos, 10 years old at most, so serious regulations) or model trains (I remember a China factory, and they were using the forced air and wet zone method too... yeah, China started to care). Plenty of examples in modern world production. All kind of masks, booths, sometimes multiple systems "stacked", sometimes automated, depending in products applied and shape of thing. Wet walls are funny at first (garden decoration at factory?)... looked up the English term, waterwash booth. Those are for workers doing 8h shifts. For DIY there are smaller solutions, just use them.
You know, it's funny. The guy who runs QRF minis (oh, sorry, that's totalsystemscenic dot com these days, 15mm historicals) has had exactly ONE employee test high for lead exposure since he's started the company back in the day. As you'd guess, big fugly investigation ensued. This employee lived next to a major highway, he was getting his lead exposure *at home* due to tetraethyl lead in the automobile fuel. Geoff was not amused... though he does laugh about it now. Use your PPE. Your personal protective equipment is your best friend, it is your life. You must master it, as you must master your life (OK, I'll stop now... )
QFT, and to say that Cadmium makes for the best yellows. Really, there is nothing better. But, as you say, do not spray it, and don't lick the brush, ever. Also, don't use the back of your thumb as a palette.. Y'all know what I mean when I say painter's thumb. If you have flying metal parts you should be using a jeweler's saw, not clippers. Also, keep your floors spotless. That way, anything you drop is easily found. And don't work in a carpeted area. On the subject of such things, does anyone use a jeweler's vise, something like this Amazon.com: Tabletop Swivel Vise, 3 Inches | VIS-350.00: Home Improvement
Exactly the opposite, they're giving you an unending stream of things that are more common yet far scarier than the metal minis you seem to be scared of. TL;DR: Stop worrying, you'll be fine
I think the general consensus is 'as long as your not gnawing the flash off with your teeth like a nerdy hamster, you're probably gonna be fine' If you're really worried about dust/filings from metal minis (I am, because I've got a 3yo and a 1yo and my hobby space is in the lounge, it's more the eye/mucous membrane irritation I'm wary of than the toxicity), do your filing on a damp cloth or paper towel, it'll stick to the towel and make cleanup easier. Also, to prevent ricochet when clipping, position the clippers as required, then put the cloth over the area, then do the actual clipping, cloth will catch the bit and stop it pinging off.
Breathe, dude, breathe. We're all going to die anyway. Might as well enjoy what we do in the time we have. Read the MSDS, don't spray anything with Cd or Cr on the labels anymore (and besides, the Vallejo Air line is generally much better for use in general, especially the metallics!). And again, it's not the cadmium compounds usually used in paint that are particularly biologically available. Chances are, you coughed the paint out already. Just don't do it anymore!
