I was wondering if anyone out there has heard of anyone getting 
poisoned by an unplated mouthpiece. Also does the patina buildup on a 
mouthpiece affect the player.

Brass is not toxic in and of itself (mainly copper and zinc). Many brasses, however contain lead which can leach out. Lead poisoning is a slow and cumulative thing, and there are many potential sources of lead contamination in the environment. It is, of course, best not to knowingly add any source of lead ingestion, so if you don't know for a fact that the brass in a mpc is lead-free, it is certainly wise to have it plated.

www.epa.gov/nrmrl/pubs/600r96103/600r96103.htm


Toby

----- Original Message ----- 
From: ammouthpieces 
To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 1:53 AM
Subject: [MouthpieceWork] Brass poisoning!!!!!!!!!


I was wondering if anyone out there has heard of anyone getting 
poisoned by an unplated mouthpiece. Also does the patina buildup on a 
mouthpiece affect the player.


 

for a while i was playing an old brass dukoff BD with no plating.  i 
definitely notice a reaction with my teeth and gums when i played it, i 
eventually had to sell it.


>From: "Toby" <kymarto123@...>
>Reply-To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
>To: <MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: Re: [MouthpieceWork] Brass poisoning!!!!!!!!!
>Date: Thu, 3 May 2007 09:00:00 +0900
>
>Brass is not toxic in and of itself (mainly copper and zinc). Many brasses, 
>however contain lead which can leach out. Lead poisoning is a slow and 
>cumulative thing, and there are many potential sources of lead 
>contamination in the environment. It is, of course, best not to knowingly 
>add any source of lead ingestion, so if you don't know for a fact that the 
>brass in a mpc is lead-free, it is certainly wise to have it plated.
>
>www.epa.gov/nrmrl/pubs/600r96103/600r96103.htm
>
>
>Toby
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: ammouthpieces
>To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
>Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 1:53 AM
>Subject: [MouthpieceWork] Brass poisoning!!!!!!!!!
>
>
>I was wondering if anyone out there has heard of anyone getting
>poisoned by an unplated mouthpiece. Also does the patina buildup on a
>mouthpiece affect the player.
>
>
>

My brother manufactures Brass instrument mouthpieces and, while not saxophone mouthpieces, they are brass and he can i am sure, shed some light on this issue. Personally, I have had some very bad experiences wiht "raw" brass sax mouthpieces and, while not neccessarily toxic, th eallergic reaction was quite severe including swelling, blistering and serious irritation.
  For further info contadt my brother (Terry Warburton) at: www.warburton-usa.com
  best regards,
  James Warburton 
   
  Michael Sunkenberg <msunkenberg@...> wrote:
          for a while i was playing an old brass dukoff BD with no plating. i 
definitely notice a reaction with my teeth and gums when i played it, i 
eventually had to sell it.

>From: "Toby" <kymarto123@...>
>Reply-To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
>To: <MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: Re: [MouthpieceWork] Brass poisoning!!!!!!!!!
>Date: Thu, 3 May 2007 09:00:00 +0900
>
>Brass is not toxic in and of itself (mainly copper and zinc). Many brasses, 
>however contain lead which can leach out. Lead poisoning is a slow and 
>cumulative thing, and there are many potential sources of lead 
>contamination in the environment. It is, of course, best not to knowingly 
>add any source of lead ingestion, so if you don't know for a fact that the 
>brass in a mpc is lead-free, it is certainly wise to have it plated.
>
>www.epa.gov/nrmrl/pubs/600r96103/600r96103.htm
>
>
>Toby
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: ammouthpieces
>To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
>Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 1:53 AM
>Subject: [MouthpieceWork] Brass poisoning!!!!!!!!!
>
>
>I was wondering if anyone out there has heard of anyone getting
>poisoned by an unplated mouthpiece. Also does the patina buildup on a
>mouthpiece affect the player.
>
>
>



         

Some people are alergic to brass, but there is no "brass poisoning".  Lead
poisoning could happen if the brass has lead in it, and it leaches out. 
Half of all brasses made have some lead in it to make it machinable at high
speeds.  Mouthpiece makers could easily avoid using brass with lead in it
if they want to.  Many sax players are playing on brass mouthpieces with
missing plating.  I have never heard or read of a real poisoning from a mouthpiece.

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I have a client that this is a very real issue.
I had to coat his instrument with various materials
because the brass was leaching into his system through
the skin of his hands.
He said he could taste the brass in his mouth when he
was done playing.  And yes, the plating was good on
his mouthpiece.

A tech friend of mine was told by his doctor to start
wearing a mask because there was so much brass in his
system.

David Schottle

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--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, david schottle 
<saxcat2001@...> wrote:
>
> 
> A tech friend of mine was told by his doctor to start
> wearing a mask because there was so much brass in his
> system.
> 
- David Schottle

Don't you think that it should be a standard safety precaution that 
mouthpiece technicians wear a breathing mask to prevent inhalation of 
both brass and rubber dust particles? 


> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
> http://mail.yahoo.com
>

Again, brass is not poisonous in and of itself.

Toby
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: gwindplayer 
  To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2007 7:45 PM
  Subject: [MouthpieceWork] Re: Brass poisoning


  --- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, david schottle 
  <saxcat2001@...> wrote:
  >
  > 
  > A tech friend of mine was told by his doctor to start
  > wearing a mask because there was so much brass in his
  > system.
  > 
  - David Schottle

  Don't you think that it should be a standard safety precaution that 
  mouthpiece technicians wear a breathing mask to prevent inhalation of 
  both brass and rubber dust particles? 

  > __________________________________________________
  > Do You Yahoo!?
  > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
  > http://mail.yahoo.com
  >