Diseases and dangers

[saphireblue]

I have a question has anyone ever gotten sick from digging in the dumps? I heard diseases like syphilis and tuberculosis stay alive for a long time. I personally havent gotten sick from digging.

 

[GuntherHess]

You must be doing more than digging if you get syphilis from a dump[]

 

[saphireblue]

LOL. This was something brought up in another group I go on. I guess these diseases stay alive along time. I try not to think about the dangers. I just take precaution in what Im doing. I dont wanna think about the possibles and be a worry wart. Theres risk in everything we do.

 

[GuntherHess]

I never heard of anyone getting anything other than tetnus, poison ivy, or allergic reactions to the dust and mold.
If those pathagens survived, they didnt survive well...

 

[capsoda]

Most anything you would dig in an old, 1920s and back, would be a killed virus and probably wouldn't be dangerous.

I have heard all the syphilis tales. You get it from smilling at girls. [sm=lol.gif][sm=lol.gif][sm=lol.gif]
Syphilis is a contact disease so you wont find it in a dump and the bacteria that causes TB won't live very long without a host and especially not 70+years.

I have had a raspy cough from diging and hitting some dusty substances. Cough goes away with a bottle of water. Other than that nothing.

 

[JGUIS]

I know diggers have got sick from privies. Privies that were topped off with poultry poo, along with attic hunting and pigeon poo are the biggest hazards I know of. I have ended up with upper respiratory infections from attic hunting, and crawlspaces. Don't stir the dust if you don't have a mask. I've been poked, sliced, stabbed, and gashed in privies and dumps, and nada. Just rub the mud in to stop the bleeding, you'll be fine.[]

 

[Mattkoz]

Well yes, you can get a disease, its called bottle fever
symptoms:
wanting to go out and dig bottle dumps []

 

[baltbottles]

Just rub the mud in to stop the bleeding, you'll be fine.

You sound like my digging partner hes been digging privies for the past 40 years. He likes to dig the trash layer with his bare hands. And never breaks anything he usually manages to cut himself quite a few times but doesn't really care. I watched him one day going through a thick wet black 1820s layer and got a brass straight pit jamed up under his finger nail. I think that was the fastest I've ever saw him move. Then we all made a joke about him finding the needle in the haystack. I think we found a blackglass porter and a few London mustard type bottles that day and a pile of nice broken ceramics.

Chris

 

[JGUIS]

I do have that fault also. Once stuff starts showing, I start getting sliced. Then when I actually have gloves on, something stupid stabs me anyway, so I can't win. I need some fillet gloves.[]

 

[glass man]

I had a teacher one time say all the rotting substances compressed over a long period of time could produce pockets of poison gas ,that may not kill ,but could make a digger very sick. They have found T.B. virus alive and well in a mummy and syphilis in three daddies, but bottle diggers dug them all up in time and they were taken to the horsbitle and now they run a HOOTERS next to the glassworks auction building! BOTTLE COLLECTORS GET A FREE BOTTLE WITH EVERY HOOT!DAMN INSOMIA![]