I wouldn't breathe it. It probably won't kill you, but it won't be healthy, either. If anything, it would be like breathing the fumes from welding on galvanized

I wouldn't breathe it. It probably won't kill you, but it won't be healthy, either. If anything, it would be like breathing the fumes from welding on galvanized steel. Now - maybe you haven't done this; I'd suspect many haven't. Galvanized steel has a coating of zinc, which boils at a much lower temperature than steel melts at. So when you're welding on such steel, the smoke and fumes given off (which even when welding normally should be avoided) are particularly nasty: https://www.bakersgas.com/weldmyworld/2011/12/03/side-effects-welding-galvanized-steel/ https://www.bakersgas.com/weldmyworld/2011/12/03/side-effect... A mild case of it basically feels like a very terrible cold/flu - but it can be deadly in great amounts. I'd suspect (but I'm not sure) that lithium fumes might cause similar symptoms. And just for sake of completeness, because a lot of people aren't aware of it - if you weld, never, ever weld on anything that has been soaked with brake cleaner that contains tetrachloroethylene. It will release phosgene gas, which is deadly in small amounts: https://www.brewracingframes.com/safety-alert-brake-cleaner--phosgene-gas.html https://www.brewracingframes.com/safety-alert-brake-cleaner-... That's from a guy who survived such an accidental exposure - but he's now messed up for life. You can still buy this kind of brake cleaner in some states, but it's not for sale in others (I believe its banned from sale in California). It's not so much that particular chemical, as it is the chlorine makeup of the chemical (the -chloro part); you could probably generate such gas by heating and vaporizing household bleach or pool chemicals that have chlorine in them, if you wanted to. But neither of those are likely to be used around steel and mechanical work like brake cleaner is.