Jalopnik; California Wants to Ban Chrome Plating

[A56]

California is about turn the state’s restoration, customization, and other automotive industries on its head. The state is looking to reduce harmful emissions and cancer-causing chemicals. The L.A. Times reports state officials have set their sights on banning a method of chrome plating that releases potentially deadly and cancerous chemicals.
The chemical used in the chrome plating process is called hexavalent chromium. It’s what gives the chrome its shiny finish. It’s used in everything from aviation components to household bathroom fixtures. It’s probably more widely used in the automotive community. Chromed bumpers and trim are the lifeblood of the restoration and hot rod communities. They’re not ready for it.

The problem happens during the chroming process. To get that clean, shiny luster, vehicles or their parts are dipped in a vat of solution containing hexavalent chromium. Then, a current of electricity is sent through the liquid so that the hexavalent chromium adheres to the part. At the same time, however, the current heats the solution causing both bubbles and vapor which carry the chromium. And it’s deadly, over 500 times more toxic than diesel fumes.
Some companies that engage in this process are aware of the vapors and use suppressants to try to reduce the fumes. But The Times points out that the suppressants just make matters worse: “These suppressants contain PFAS, another highly toxic compound, which is discharged into local waterways.” The whole process releases cancer-causing chemicals into surrounding communities, state officials say.


Because of this, the California Air Resources Board is proposing a ban of chromium or chrome-6 by 2027 and a ban on the use of the compound for industrial durability by 2039. But the board may have a fight on its hands as both the automotive restoration industry and many of the state’s industries that rely on the compound are up in arms. The board knows that this ban would have huge implications across industries statewide, acknowledging that several thousand jobs could be lost.

If the ban is approved, state officials are allocating $10 million per year for the first three years of the ban to help the industry transition. That transition into what exactly isn’t clear. Bryan Leiker, executive director of the Metal Finishing Assn. of California said that the industry isn’t ready. “California is trying to force something to happen that’s not ready to happen. The consequences are going to be disastrous because you can lose an entire industry,” he said.

 

[Dan the man]

California is about turn the state’s restoration, customization, and other automotive industries on its head. The state is looking to reduce harmful emissions and cancer-causing chemicals. The L.A. Times reports state officials have set their sights on banning a method of chrome plating that releases potentially deadly and cancerous chemicals.
The chemical used in the chrome plating process is called hexavalent chromium. It’s what gives the chrome its shiny finish. It’s used in everything from aviation components to household bathroom fixtures. It’s probably more widely used in the automotive community. Chromed bumpers and trim are the lifeblood of the restoration and hot rod communities. They’re not ready for it.

The problem happens during the chroming process. To get that clean, shiny luster, vehicles or their parts are dipped in a vat of solution containing hexavalent chromium. Then, a current of electricity is sent through the liquid so that the hexavalent chromium adheres to the part. At the same time, however, the current heats the solution causing both bubbles and vapor which carry the chromium. And it’s deadly, over 500 times more toxic than diesel fumes.
Some companies that engage in this process are aware of the vapors and use suppressants to try to reduce the fumes. But The Times points out that the suppressants just make matters worse: “These suppressants contain PFAS, another highly toxic compound, which is discharged into local waterways.” The whole process releases cancer-causing chemicals into surrounding communities, state officials say.


Because of this, the California Air Resources Board is proposing a ban of chromium or chrome-6 by 2027 and a ban on the use of the compound for industrial durability by 2039. But the board may have a fight on its hands as both the automotive restoration industry and many of the state’s industries that rely on the compound are up in arms. The board knows that this ban would have huge implications across industries statewide, acknowledging that several thousand jobs could be lost.

If the ban is approved, state officials are allocating $10 million per year for the first three years of the ban to help the industry transition. That transition into what exactly isn’t clear. Bryan Leiker, executive director of the Metal Finishing Assn. of California said that the industry isn’t ready. “California is trying to force something to happen that’s not ready to happen. The consequences are going to be disastrous because you can lose an entire industry,” he said.

Ban California.

 

[crackedback]

They've been after this process for a LONG time. Many plating companies closed up shop or moved out of state long ago due to regulation.

 

[Dan the man]

If only there were a way to eliminate the voters favoring Newsom.

Probably won't happen until it affects them directly and then it will be to late. California has some stupid ideas, what's sad is the rest of the country will follow their lead. I don't think it's legal to bar b Q in California anymore.

 

[missing linc]

Exactly why so many manufacturers are packing up and moving out of commiefornia.

 

[1MeanA]

Its hard even around here to find a shop and prices have tripled over the last 15 years. I think we have one shop in the whole province.

 

[missing linc]

Its hard even around here to find a shop and prices have tripled over the last 15 years. I think we have one shop in the whole province.

Was watching some car show a few years back where they took all of the parts that were to be chromed to Mexico. While they were there, the car that they were supposed to be restoring, and had driven down was stolen.

 

[Dan the man]

Exactly why so many manufacturers are packing up and moving out of commiefornia.

Edelbrock still has their foundry in California but they do all the machine work in Tennessee, not good business sense. I believe that edelbrock and AFR are the only ones who still make cylinder heads and intake manifolds in the states, I don't know if there are others

 

[mopowers]

Yep, nothin new here unfortunately. Just be glad you don't have to work in one of those plating shops.

 

[1MeanA]

Yep, nothin new here unfortunately. Just be glad you don't have to work in one of those plating shops.

Yeah I've been through a few shops looking at parts we were getting plated when I was in the industrial equipment business many years ago. Those open plating baths and the vapors can't be good for you. I still remember the smell. One of the shops wouldn't touch automotive parts.

 

[toolmanmike]

Not much affects the elitist. They are immune to the politics.

Nothing new there. Many plating shops are gone. The chemicals are pretty nasty and hard to dispose of. Can't pour acid down the drain.

And speaking of politics, You are talking about that in a general forum.

 

[Dan the man]

Nothing new there. Many plating shops are gone. The chemicals are pretty nasty and hard to dispose of. Can't pour acid down the drain.

And speaking of politics, You are talking about that in a general forum.

I went to the N&P section awhile back and the last conversation was in November of '21, at least that's all I saw

 

[A56]

Nothing new there. Many plating shops are gone. The chemicals are pretty nasty and hard to dispose of. Can't pour acid down the drain.

And speaking of politics, You are talking about that in a general forum.

Fixed it ok?

 

[Dan the man]

Nothing new there. Many plating shops are gone. The chemicals are pretty nasty and hard to dispose of. Can't pour acid down the drain.

And speaking of politics, You are talking about that in a general forum.

I know and understand that rules have to be made, but I dont see what's wrong with talking politics in the general forum. Isn't that the purpose of it? Is it due to legal matters? Just asking

 

[A56]

I know and understand that rules have to be made, but I dont see what's wrong with talking politics in the general forum. Isn't that the purpose of it? Is it due to legal matters? Just asking

Depends on who's participating. Some get pretty radical and all hell breaks loose. My bad.

 

[toolmanmike]

I know and understand that rules have to be made, but I dont see what's wrong with talking politics in the general forum. Isn't that the purpose of it? Is it due to legal matters? Just asking

Joey, the site owner has created a forum specifically for political discussions. If you go there, check in, and are allowed to post there you will know why.

 

[Dan the man]

Joey, the site owner has created a forum specifically for political discussions. If you go there, check in, and are allowed to post there you will know why.

Now that you mentioned that, I think that it said that I didn't have permission to be there

 

[subcom]

I worked next to a chrome plating shop years ago. That was some nasty, toxic **** that floated out of that place.

 

[Scamp Rhonda]

My ex son-in-law worked at a plating shop here and always had lesions on his skin. Arms hands and face. I can't imagine what it was doing to his lungs. Gotta be one of the worst places to work.

 

[Steve welder]

I would hope the industry finds a safer way to do chrome.
A few years ago I went to a well known plater, he was the nephew of a plater I used in the seventies.
A lot of his family had been in the chrome plating business, he told me they all died of cancers and he was the only one still alive

 

[Dan the man]

I would hope the industry finds a safer way to do chrome.
A few years ago I went to a well known plater, he was the nephew of a plater I used in the seventies.
A lot of his family had been in the chrome plating business, he told me they all died of cancers and he was the only one still alive

Hate to hear that they all have died from the plating business. I wonder if the plating companies have ppe for their employees and do they have the ventilation system's in use?

 

[Phreakish]

I worked for years in a shop that did plating in house.

Lots of silliness to run such a place. Our waste water was cleaner than what came from the city tap (which we used in every process) but we couldn't discharge ours down the drain. Had to be cleaner than tap water! So instead it got trucked to a place with a permit to discharge "hazardous" tap water down their own drain. Which was upstream of ours...

The thing with plating is ventilation. Lots of gasses and evaporated stuff. Lots of tanks at various temperatures including many in excess of 200F. Lots of heat. It's miserable.
Some of the ventilation requirements were so bad that it was "easier" to let employees breathe the nasty stuff because drubbing towers are expensive and hard to maintain.
The safety and air quality of a shop has everything to do with how workers handle chemical. One guy being lazy can expose everyone to a lifetimes worth of hazard simply by dumping a barrel too quickly. Even when you take steps to make it hard to dump too fast, speedy finds a way - usually a more hazardous one to boot.
If we were to charge for the cost of all the safety, customers would just order from our largest political enemy instead. No doubt with less than zero ***** given about their employees.
We shut down our most hazardous lines and would do them small batch style only when necessary, and only with a skeleton crew in full hazmat ppe.
Most of our platers were scabby and gross, but not because of the job. Turns out people willing to work around chemicals often smoke them.

In college I got to road trip through a once famous former town outside Barstow where hex chrome was made famous. Not sure what caused more misery and suffering, the hex or the power plant shutting down... Was still a large cattle field with several ground water wells up until the early 2010s. Seems like it would be tough making a buck on toxic cows, but the house off the road had some badass hotrods outside on occasion... Couldn't have been too broke. I guess glow in the dark meat must fetch a premium.

Hex chrome also isn't the only shiny chrome. Tri chrome works half decent but looks bluer. Most people don't even notice these days though because even the hex is cut down with lots of tri, and most are too distracted to even care about show chrome. Nickel can be hardened to over a Rockwell 50 and look pretty close to chrome when done right. Also easier to plate and can be deposited electroless, and thicker without crazing. It won't last quite as long, but it does polish a little easier. Also doesn't tend to bubble like chrome, but it all depends on what it gets exposed to.

Even if hex stayed available, the issue with auto parts is more that customers demand perfection that is well beyond any OEM quality level, and think chroming will hide all their grinder marks too. Car guys are their own worst enemy...

In reality, a chrome shop can print money by doing nothing but hydraulic shafts and heavy equipment parts. The economic reality of CA banning chrome has more to do with the few oil fields and the many heavy equipment outfits in the State than it does with our toys. Last I checked, none of the chrome alternatives really work well on those parts, and the few which do tend to be stupid expensive or just stupid. The best ones are plasma deposited and last I checked there's barely enough electricity left in CA to air condition the governors mansion and his favorite dining establishments.

Most of the DLC and other exotic coatings are saved for aircraft landing gear and space-x parts - good luck getting anything done for less than $cost-plus (x100) per hour. There's more demand than supply, and aerospace will pay whatever because the same kids spending a down-payment-per-year on coffee and can't balance their checkbooks got hired into management to replace their parents when the parent decided to chase a second pension at the DOD as a "consultant".

But I digress.. Shiny car parts can still be made shiny. For the willing, there are also DIY kits for chrome mimics available from places like Caswells. I've seen people get good results if they don't cut corners.

 

[junkyardhero]

They've been after this process for a LONG time. Many plating companies closed up shop or moved out of state long ago due to regulation.

It was like watching dominoes fall: first the prices went up. then they left LA proper for other counties with lighter regulation. then the prices went up again as the regulations caught up and choked the business to the point of them leaving California all together.

there's a small handful of plating and polishing places in the LA area and their prices are astronomical.

 

[72Duster440]

I work for a large defense contractor, it's been at least a decade since the government has allowed use of any hex chrome fasteners on their vehicles. They came out with a new mil spec for fastener coatings probably about 14 years ago, we still come across certain sizes of fasteners that have never been made under that new spec. But the $30 a bolt we pay for those is better than grabbing some hex chrome ones that have been sitting on the shelf for years apparently. Same with electrical connectors, they've been clean for a decade+ coming from vendors, but we regularly need to get a waiver in order to use government provided components that are still made with hex chrome. I guess it's OK for them to not follow the rules they created for others.

 

[Steve welder]

So as long as everyone can get chrome done at a reasonable cost while people working there get cancers from years of exposure, the byproducts pollute the environment and everyone living in the immediate area of chrome shop, you're all good with that.
Were not killing workers so you can get your bumper done cheap, not anymore.
Granted chrome platers are still needed but worker and environment protection is the way it will be