lead foam engine sound proofing dangerous

[arch007]

My boat has foam with lead based sound proofing. It is bought in sheets.
I used it to enclose the engine to lessen the noise.

I have a toddler and I just started wondering as the sheets decay will they release lead particles which children or adults can ingest ?

Thanks

arch

[arch007]

No body with small children worried ?

arch

[Snore]

Look at the MSD (F/K/A MSDS) info. It will provide much better info than this forum.

[a64pilot]

I think to be dangerous, you have to eat it, or ingest it somehow, like maybe lead water pipes? I don't think it breaks down and gets into the air.
It's bad for adults too, just adults don't normally eat paint chips so they weren't getting lead poisoning from old houses.
I believe that was how lead was getting into the bloodstream of small children, them eating old paint chips.

Romans of long ago I think used it as a sweetener and of course had lead pipes, so I believe ancient Romans were heavily lead poisoned?

[sailormed]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Romans of long ago I think used it as a sweetener and of course had lead pipes, so I believe ancient Romans were heavily lead poisoned?

Yes, but the main reason was their wine, containing acid it dissolved the lead in the glazing of the wine carafs they used. Saturnism it is called.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by sailormed

Yes, but the main reason was their wine, containing acid it dissolved the lead in the glazing of the wine carafs they used. Saturnism it is called.

You may be right, I just remember some time ago reading that there is a belief that lead poisoning may have had a lot to do with the fall of the Roman Empire.
Just as I believe that the cultivation of beans is what led to the end of the dark ages, theory being that the common person was severely deprived of protein and therefore never developed much intelligence.
Sometimes, maybe little things lead to big consequences.

However to get back on track, I don't think that airborne lead is very likely, and even then I'll go out on a limb and say it may take quite a lot to be hazardous, or indoor gun ranges would be horrible for your health?

[Jim Cate]

IMO, the probability of lead escaping the plastic matrix of the soundproofing and becoming airborne is damn low. The high density of any small particles that broke off would tend to keep them from floating around... likely just lie quietly inside your engine room/box where children seldom play. Visual inspection of the material would reveal any severe degradation, so an occasional inspection might relieve your worries.

Jim