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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Toxicity of Silver Coffee/Tea Serving Set
Q. I have a silverplated (I believe) coffee/tea set where the inside is showing a dark area where the silver has worn off. I would like to use this for a luncheon I am hosting Friday but want to be assured it is safe. Is there any lead concern here? Thanks for a reply.
Barbara Holliday- Melbourne, Florida, USA
February 9, 2010
A. Well to be honest most steels do contain small amounts of lead but its nothing to be concerned with. I work in an environment that is considered to be high lead risk but in 25 years my lead levels have never moved up at all and my levels are on par with others that are in low risk industries. It would seem that my insanity is largely a genetic thing and can not be blamed on chemicals or heavy metals. I would have to say off the cuff, NO! You probably have nothing to be concerned with but if you want you can buy lead test kits at most hardware stores ⇨
They are simple to use and cost $10 or $15 dollars. The government makes some hype about some of these kits being inaccurate but you can always Google the kit and I'm sure that if there are any concerns they would pop right up. Unfortunately, I do have a few friends that could pass as Californians who test everything for everything and won't let their kids play in the sand box. I have heard them talk about the lead and mercury tests and they of course they have researched it more than the Pope has researched the bible so I know that there are cheep, government approved test kits out there that do work just fine. I personally see them in hardware stores quite often although I have never felt the need to buy one.
Rod Henrickson
gunsmith - Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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