He worked in the furnace department, skimming impurities off the top of gleaming, molten lead. He moved fast in suffocating heat against a steady mist of fumes. He’d feel his respirator slide on his face, the seal separating from his pooling sweat. He’d smell the metallic stench, like old coins, creeping in.

His complexion turned gray. His body felt heavy. His head pounded.

The level of lead in his blood shot up weeks after he started. Co-workers and supervisors told him he needed to wash better before breaks, or after his shift.

But the poison was bound to enter his body. The amount of lead in the air was seven times what Autery’s company-issued respirator could handle.