[bsder]

So, your hands have no oil or dirt on them after working a welding shift? Wow, I'd love to take a tour of your workplace.

Even if you've got protection on, you still get exposed little by little. If someone is welding next to you on a site, you get exposed. If you have slag, you are breathing vaporized chemicals and heavy metal ions unless you a wearing a closed system breather. Any solvents or fluids tend to be some level of toxic. etc.

Welding is more than just putting rod to metal. You cut things. You grind things. You apply chemicals in preparation. Nobody is dressed in an environmental hazard suit all day--lack of mobility and peripheral vision is its own industrial hazard.

If you're covered in grime at the end of the day, well, all that crap is toxic to some degree.

[JumpCrisscross]

True, didn’t think about grime like that. I’d be curious to see actual health outcomes comparing the risks of a sedentary occupation with one that has some toxic exposure.