Does welding affect smell/taste?

[scott brunsdon]

I noticed last night after spending the afternoon doing some welding and grinding that I couldn't really taste my dinner very well. Back to normal now. Anybody else have this happen? Maybe it was my imagination. Pity, because it was a great meal I made - strong flavours, too.
Scott

[smithboy]

For me...absolutely, it does. After a long period of welding, everything smells different. It's not like you lose you sense of smell, but like it's altered somehow. It's funny, I guess I never thought about it until you mentioned it.

[MicroZone]

I am always really hungry after working and welding, so I just inhale my food. As long as it's not burnt or extremely hot, I think my food tastes the same.

[zapster]

not to me..
i have the worlds most sensitive nose

i can smell anything way before anyone else does..

and i absolutly HATE it

...zap!

[lotechman]

Apparently some of us have more smell receptors than others. Some are designated super tasters. I am at the other end of the scale. I don't tase much so along with that is the advantage of not losing anything I never had.

[MAC702]

Scott, what were you working with? I've heard that a mild case of metal fume fever might have those symptoms. I'm not sure because I've never had it; I always stayed upwind and/or wore a respirator when working with questionable material (like galvanized.)

[scott brunsdon]

It was galvanised steel, but I ground off the gal from the weld site. And I was working inside because it was a cold day - normally I'm outside.

[SSBN727]

Hey Scott!
I believe MAC702's "hunch" is correct with regards to your exposure to some poisonus fumes - no matter how slight, mainly because of the inadequate ventilation from being inside

I hope ya feel better soon because, I know how that can be so disorienting when exposed to the fumes as it happened to me when I first started out.

Respectfully,
SSBN727

[Stick rod]

Scott,
I agree with Mac and SSBN.Long time ago had the same thing happen to me with the galv.steel.Depending on the humidity level where I work sometimes I notice a slight change in smell/taste but for me it`s very seldom.

[scott brunsdon]

I'll have to grind more of the gal off next time.
Currently I'm coughing, sneezing and wheezing, but I put that down to germs brought home from school by a 3 year old and a 5 year old.

[littlefuzz]

Here's a good link I found that goes into detail about galvanized steel.
http://www.sperkoengineering.com/htm...Galvanized.pdf

[scott brunsdon]

So the symptons of metal fume fever are:

'...fever, chills, thirst, headache and nausea.'

I sure ticked all those boxes. Maybe I did poison myself on the weekend after all!

I almost feel like I've earnt my 'WeldingWeb Tradesman' tag!

[smithboy]

Hmmm. Now I have to say that even when I weld un-coated steel with mig or tig over a few hours, my sense of smell is affected. In fact, I think the effect is strongest when I use inert gas (double hmmm). I had wondered if there was something wrong with my nose, because even after I took a good long shower, everything still had "that smell," sorta like ozone, but everywhere and on everything. However, over time (hours maybe) my nose returned to normal. It's not a foul odor. Maybe I am alone in this or maybe there is something I am not thinking of. I know I don't have a super strong nose...I grew up on a cattle farm and near chicken houses and never thought anything of the smell.

Scott,
It does sound like you inhaled a bit of zinc based on your symptoms mentioned above...be careful with that.

Dang...now I feel like a hypochondriac...someone mentions their nose problem and now I got it and they don't......scott, this is probably a record for long-distance disease transmission. I hope bird flew doesn't infect my hard drive. Cough...cough...sniff...sniff

[scott brunsdon]

I knew if kept reading enough posts one day one of you guys would use the word 'dang' - thanks Smithboy.
Now I have a picture of you in my head and it's not dissimilar to Ned Flanders.
Scott

[Rockski]

well next time your working with galvanised, have about a litre of milk before and wear your respirator best way to avoid the zinc chills