A link for general perusal… http://www.ecomass.com/compounding.php
Harking back to my reading of various points of view on what ‘threat’ lead is to wildlife. It is fairly clear that the main thrust towards removing small shot sized fishing tackle from the water and it’s surroundings is related to ingestion of the lead by birds etc. Larger weights being accepted presumably suggests that ‘leeching’ into the water from bare lead is not the main concern.
I am an enviromentalist in the broad sense and wish no harm to wildlife etc. I think that here in the USA it is reasonable to align ourselves with the sport of fishing and change as changes are made in that sport. I encourage everyone who uses a lead bulb to prime and paint that bulb as soon as it is on the boat. That eliminates the builder’s future contact with the bare metal and to all intents and purposes prevents leeching into the water. Going this route we will already be ahead of the fishing community in not polluting our waters.
Beyond that, if the lead density limitation can be applied as meaning maximum ‘mixed material’ density then that would stand us in good stead for the future should it be required by legislation. With more expensive materials and higher production costs then of course the bulbs will cost more, but that is something we will have to live with.
I would not be in favour of raising the allowable overall density of the bulb above that of lead.
Graham
Graham-
Have you ever met any of thos people who think that even ooking at lead will get you lead poisoning ( the ignorant extremists)? You’ll tell them that the lead is surely coated with paint or resin, and that there is no possibility of lead leeching into the water. Yet these people are so stubborn (believing that L-E-A-D is a 4-letter word) they instantly believe the worst. These same people are the ones that believe that if you lose your boat in the pond, that cadmium will leech from the batteries into the water. :mad: They probably think also that tossing a Lithium cell in water will cause it to explode!
The same people will probably go speeding home in the car, believing it’s OK to ignore the speed limit (because they’re doing it safely.)
BTW- all the ODOMs in my club have keel bulbs that are coated with resin, and then painted.
thx
As far as I can gather, the major precopution in Europe is lead in land-fills.
ERm yes, I know the type TomoHawk, there has been a certain amout of that whenever casting lead is mentioned on the forums too. In this matter I will for my own peace of mind align with the fishing community as I said above. That seems like the practical and responsible solution. I will shortly start supplying my cast bulb halves ‘pre-primed’ with paint on the non mating surfaces to encourage them to be finished properly.
Epoxy coating certainly is a good option too. If we take these precautions I don’t see that we have anything to be ashamed of in continuing to use lead. Zealots will be zealots, best to try to avoid them really, not so easy because they can be rather zealous.
Graham