Originally Posted by GTX MATT
Originally Posted by polyspheric
Thanks.

This wound up a multi-million dollar medical malpractice lawsuit years ago. The manufacturer of some artificial joints (hip, femur ball) used chemical wash to sterilize them, and they were inserted in the patient without secondary inspection (supplied in sealed, single use packaging). Yes, the cleaning fluid was still there, and infected the wound - the whole thing had to be done over again, in some cases the patients suffered permanent disability.

I shiver every time I see someone handle freshly machined & cleaned engine parts with bare hands. This was known to be a problem 80 years ago: some corrosion developed in critical weapon manufacture (WWII), and it was traced to... assembly line workers with red hair. Their skin oil (transferred through their fingerprints) was highly acidic compared to other workers. Re-purposed them to another line: problem solved.

No such thing as too clean.


Interesting, I have red hair and stuff I touch turns to rust incredibly easy. I finally realized it has to do with my skin, but didn't realize it was common to red hair.


Hmm. I have no hair so I must be safe to touch metals then. 😁

Last edited by fastmark; 02/06/20 10:45 AM.