Carbide Die Industry

"It is not your job to ask why, it is your job to tool and die."

After working in the carbide die industry for some time you start to wonder.... I have seen people eat a sandwich with hands not much cleaner than the ones in this picture. Are there any negative effects I should be worried about? It turns out that after working for ten or more years in tool and die (according to a study done in France) you do have an elevated chance of cancer. This is only a slight increase though, no where near as bad as cancer. The people that were most effected were those who worked with tungsten carbide before it is sintered.  So basically the people who make the preforms, not necessarily those that grind the carbide dies and tooling into its final form.

I'm not a carbide scientist so don't take me to court about this but I'm just providing some food for thought. There is a good reason to have good ventilation and cleaning in a carbide die and tooling facility. I'm not sure a mask is need (I have heard of old timers that wore masks) but maybe having a dust collector isn't a bad idea.

Also, don't drink the coolant!