Posted by R B Meng on September 06, 2003 at 04:01:53:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Brass Poisoning? posted by Doug Elliott on September 04, 2003 at 21:30:40:
If it were only raw brass, it wouldn't be so bad. There are varying degrees of other metals mixed in as well. Some are just contaminants in trace amounts, like lead and mercury. The trumpet player I work with used an older mouthpiece with worn plating. His health started to fail -- liver problems. After a series of tests, his doctor said that he was being poisoned with trace amounts of "heavy metals". They tested pots and pans, and silverware -- any metal objects that he would be in frequent contact. It dawned on him that the mouthpiece should be tested as well, which turned out to be the problem.