Hey Gabe!!

ZINC!!!

The argument that the Greenies are making about the Zinc in the floor finish is just as you said.  It’s their convenient target of choice they are trying to capitalize (A/K/A - $$$) on.

Throw this at them.  Do you know that there is a solid metal bar of Zinc that weighs over 5 pounds in every hot water heater sold today??  It’s there as a “sacrificial anode” to keep the electrolysis between the water, minerals and metals of the heater tank from “rusting” out the tank so the heater lasts longer.  These have been used for decades.  The Zinc sacrifices itself in lieu of the steel of the tank.  Where does the Zinc go? - Into the water that you use in your house every day. You drink some, you bath in it. EVERY DAY.

Let’s take the marine engineering industry. (Something I have a little experience in).  All the ships in the world are floating in salt water.  Ships are steel or aluminum or combinations of different ferrous metals.  These ships use the salt water they sail in to cool the insides of the ship and to dissipate the heat generated by the engines, A/C plants and the many other functions that generate heat on a ship.  The salt water circulating through the steel pipes of the ship also sets up electrolytic action that in time would eat right through the pumps, pipes, coolers/heat exchangers and anything else that the salt water is in constant contact with, including the hull of the ship.  You can ask any “worker bee” that has spent any time on a ship and the most tedious job they will tell you about is changing all the Zinc’s in all the pumps and heat exchangers.  It’s a once a month maintenance check and if the Zinc is over 50% smaller than the size it started out, it gets changed out with a new one.  There are Zinc plates bolted to the exterior sides of the ships to counteract the electrolysis.  A 500’ ship would probably have over 500 pounds of pure Zinc throughout the ship constantly being eaten away and deposited into the sea environment from which it came, preventing the ferrous metals from being eaten away and prolonging the life of the ship and its equipment.

What about the Zinc used as dietary supplements in cold remedies and cough medicines?  It’s sold over the counter with out a prescription and even has a minimum recommended allowance.  Zinc is an essential element for good health.  Yes, too much can be a bad thing, but until they make the jump from Zinc in the floor finish to harming the environment or people with out addressing the medical industry, Naval and marine industry, or the water heater manufacturers…  My floors are shinning just fine, THANK YOU!!

I’ll write more later.  Just had to get this rant off to you.

Later,