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Comment by dag11 | Hacker News Reader

I can't help but re-watch this entire video in full every time I come across it. What an amazing documentation.

I wonder what next transition looked like to them. I imagine the most significant change was moving from paste ups to digital layouts in the 90s.

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What I remember most about this is they never mention the health issues of people constantly working with lead. It’s an interesting documentary, but really beings out that the past is a different country feeling.

1917 book calling out lead exposure and also the lack of physical movement and outdoors/freshwater on the job: https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=4426

I kept expecting them to mention the safety benefits of not using lead, but it never came up. Guess they didn't care. Explains why nobody was wearing eye protection, or ear protection. Probably not a lot of steel-toed boots, either.

Not to mention the fact that they often hired already deaf operators because the volume were so deafening.

So this was the primary reason they hired deaf people?

I'm no expert— but from what I understand, the only really risky part is in the remelter where lead oxides form. When just handling lead type— an alloy of tin, elemental lead, and antimony— unless you actually ingest it (where it can mimic calcium in deleterious way in larger amounts) then it's not very dangerous, so handwashing before eating, etc. is good enough.

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