Worried Your Antiques may be Toxic?

[talesofthesevenseas]

I was wondering if I might encounter lead solder in old antique kitchen tools. I found a couple of interesting articles on the subject of exposure to toxic materials in antiques that I thought would be of interest and have posted them below. But does anyone know if lead solder may have been used on old kitchen tools? I would like to replace some of my modern kitchen tools with functional antiques but was wondering if I might have lead in the solder of some items. Also, where does one get a lead test kit?

On lead:
http://www.antiques.tv/words/articles-toxic_antiques,65-2
http://reviews.ebay.com/Lead-Warning-Toxic-material-no-joke_W0QQugidZ10000000000966301

On mercury:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19329084/

[wendy177]

Hi tales asked the hubby & any home deopt / home center will carry them.

[syl]

If you have a kitchen tool that's old enough to be called antique and it has solder on it you should beware. Perfectly safe to look at or handle but I wouldn't bring it into contact with food. For test kits what Wendy said works or ask a painter. Sometimes they need to test for lead.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Thanks for the info on the test kit, it would be good to have.

I guess with functional kitchen tools it would be best to avoid anything soldered or painted. Rust I think would be handled as you would with a cast iron pan, keeping it cleaned and a little coating of olive oil to keep it from rusting.

I'm not too worried about the cast iron coffee grinder since the parts were cast rather than soldered and the grinder has been in constant use. The person I bought it from used it for a year after buying it from the estate where it had been in use for many years. I'm thinking that nice oily coffee beans will protect from rust like olive oil would. I did a lot of reading before choosing that grinder and a lot of people still use the oldies like mine. I made sure to pick one that had been used regularly.

[syl]

When people first started putting food into tin cans they would seal them with lead solder which lead to disaster. One story I heard was about the crew of a sailing ship that was trying to find the northwest passage up near the arctic circle and all went insane. They abandoned the ship and just walked away and of course all perished. Took them awhile to figure out lead poisoning.

[KC]

Cast iron is good....the more iron in your diet the better!

However, if you have old and pitted aluminum pots/pans you need to get rid of them!  They have discoered that people with Alzheimers do have increased levels of aluminum in their systems.  Although it hasn't been traced back exclusively to this origin - pitted products have lost their smooth (safe) surface and are eroding into the food! 

Learned a few things from chefing for years!

The solder is also an issue as you know.  That is also why the can companies went to seamless cans on drinks as well.  The less seams - the less solder.  Which is less to be apt to corrode and less expensive.  (Still own stock in canning/bottling companies!  Learned this over the years!)

[D&b antiques]

It's said the Egyptians, met with and early death. due too the fact they sweetened there drinks with chunks of Lead.

[Dean Perdue]

One story I heard was about the crew of a sailing ship that was trying to find the northwest passage up near the arctic circle and all went insane. They abandoned the ship and just walked away and of course all perished. Took them awhile to figure out lead poisoning.

I saw that fascinating documentary also Syl.Glad you brought it up.

Those poor explorer's struggling against the unknown and against all odds.
Starve or being poisioned from the canning?
All this while shipwrecked with no communication in bitter cold plus not knowing what's killing you in the first place.
Almost like fact is stranger than fiction.
These brave souls couldn't catch a break.Really makes you count your blessings seeing this kind of thing.  
Very pertinent to this thread IMO.

[regularjoe2]

Nice thread .

I collected cinnabar carved lacquerware for years .
It too can be dangerous stuff (mercury) .


On the flip side of toxic fear , I've collected some very nice heavy copper pans & such (tin-coated cooking surfaces) that I use regularly ; often I ask "Is that LEAD in this old pan??!!" ... I'm a bad man & enjoy this little ploy in getting the prices down to my liking .
I have seen some Turkish copper items that were indeed coated with lead , though .

[Chinese Antique Furniture]

Not only  the dangers in the utensils, but also in the junk that gets put into our food.  Ever check out the amount of sodium in packaged food?  No wonder we're dealing with an avalanche of high blood pressure and accompanying heart disease!!

[talesofthesevenseas]

The expedition Syl is referring to was the arctic expedition lead by Sir John Franklin. There was some amazing footage and photos of the frozen remains of the crew, still perfectly preserved. Fascinating to look back in time like that! Google Franklin Expedition for details, here is some basic info including links to the photos of these amazing "ice mummies" at the bottom:
http://www.awesomestories.com/history/mummies/franklin-expedition-mummies

Glad this topic is interesting. I hadn't thought of mirrors and clocks being potential sources of hazardous materials, and I'm guessing there are other sources I haven't thought about.

I have a tiny lead toy horse about 1/2" long. As I understand it, it is OK to handle, but advisable to wash your hands before eating, right? Mostly he lives in a little chest in a drawer where he's safely corralled!

On modern hazardous sources there is also a lot of new info available on bisphenol A (BPA) leeching out of plastics when they are heated. I've started microwaving in my ceramic dishes and removing ready-made products from their plastic containers. I also have been replacing plastic kitchen tools, although I still have a few to go. Dishwashers heat up plastic too, so does the heater in your car, the shower heats up your plastic shower curtain... there are just a million places where we're exposed to it.

[Dean Perdue]

On the flip side of toxic fear , I've collected some very nice heavy copper pans & such (tin-coated cooking surfaces) that I use regularly ; often I ask "Is that LEAD in this old pan??!!" ... I'm a bad man & enjoy this little ploy in getting the prices down to my liking .

Teach me more Regularjoe2 


Staying away from hazards in this modern age is like a damned if you do damned if you don't kind of thing.
Mankind tries and tries to go above the perfectly balanced laws of nature without success.JMO

[regularjoe2]

More quotes for Dean :

"Really?! I thought patina was some kind of fried pork ."

"Too bad that bronze is not shiny ."

"That sure would look nice if it was refinished .... but refinishing is so expensive ..."

"Boy , that painting is dirty!"

"That looks too rusty for me."

"Are you sure that's not some kind of reproduction ?"

"I'm just looking for something to put in the garage for garden tools ."

[ironlord1963]

     This thread brings me back to my first post on this site.  I found a lead spoon dated to 1802.  I learned that up until the Mid to late 1800's it was not uncommon to have or see a Lead spoon.  .   I still have this spoon, but have not yet used it yet, to test the crazy death theory.  .   I think that one should be cautious in using any antique for everyday use, kinda like taking your grandmother on your early morning jog.  Of course I just started thinking this way as I was reading this thread.  Maybe we should just let these old items retire and maybe save them for a few more hundred years.  Anyway this thread just brought me back to my first thread.  So here is the ultimate in lead poison device.  The Lead Spoon.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Cool spoon! I wonder how long poor F.M. lived (Assuming that FM is a baby spoon and not the maker's hallmark).

There are lots of cool safe kitchen things like wooden rolling pins and cast iron jar openers that can still be used, but it's probably best to steer clear of the stuff that actually comes in contact with food and drink, cast iron excepted.

I quit buying cobalt blue ceramics at thrift stores when I started seeing pottery with labels saying it was for decorative purposes only and not safe for food. It would be for something like that to wind up on a thrift store shelf minus the label.