Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-17
THE SCARE ABOUT TIN.

THE SCARE ABOUT TIN.
4 Person Would Have to Eat Ton Pounds
ofthe Most Contaminated Canned Fruit
to Get Sick-what Chemical Analysis
showsLNeoessity OF Cleanlipess.
WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPATcH.1
Until girls have sound instruction in ele-
mentary science, as we'll as in arithmetic,
| in the public schools, housekeepers will be
| at the mercy of alarmists, and well mean
| ing but misinformed writers of sensational
| articles
Every year or two somebody starts
scare about some article of food or clothing
which has been used from time immemorial,
| and it goes the rounds of the papers, and
worries the good housewives in 80 cases, at
least, out of the 100, needlessly. Now it is
| the cancer-producing quality of tomatoes.
A little reading of scientific literature is
dangerous thing. Things get strangely
| mixed in the readers minds Just now
there seems to be revival OF the tin scare
which went the rounds OF the press about
ten years ago Then sugar was the great
source Of danger, now it seems to be tin
ware itself-tin pals especially.
lin itself is q comparatively harmless
| metal, as will be seen by the following state
| ments of the investigations by the best au-
| thorities Prof. Attfeld, in an address be-
| fore the London Pharmaceutical Society, in
March, 1884, says:
Tho Opinion Of an Expert
IT have never been able to satisfy myself
that u can of ordinary timed food contains
even useful medical dose of such true
soluble compound of tin as is likely to have
any effect on man. As for the metal itself
that Is, the filings or actual metallic
particles or fragments-one ounce is q
common dose as a vermifuge, harmless
even in that quantity to- man,
and not always so harmful as
could be desired to the parasites for whose
disestablishment it is administered One
ounce might be contained in four hundred
weight of food. If possibly harmful guam
tity of a soluble compound of tin be placed
in portion of canned food the latter will
be so nasty-so metallic, in fact-that no
sane person will eat it. Unsoundness in meat
does not appear; to promote the corrosion
or solution of tin. I have
kept salmon in cans until it
was putrid, testing it occasionally for tin;
no trace was discovered Nevertheless,
food should not be allowed to remain for
few days, or even hours, in saucepans, metal
baking pans, or opened tin cans; for in this
case it may taste metallic. Unsound food,
canned or uncanned, may of course iniure
health; and where canned food has really
done harm, the harm has in all probability
been due to the food and not to the can.
I'm my opinion, given after well weighing
all evidence hitherto forthcoming, the pub
lie have not the faintest cause for alarm re-
specting the occurrence Of tin, lead or any
other metal in canned foods. If persons are
unwise enough to let food remain long in an
opened tin can, they almost deserve to be
punished by the metallic flavor which may
be impaired to the food"
Tho Lead in the Solder.
All the common tinware, so-called, is iron
coated with very thin layer of tin. The
tin itself has to be pure in order to coat the
iron well, and to make what is known as
''bright plate" In former years, the separ-
ate pieces of the timed pail or dish were
cut out of sheet and soldered together with
q solder which must always contain lead, in
order that it may melt at a low heat to work
readily. There is doubtless some danger
from this lead; but at present stamped tin,
or dishes shaped out Of one piece and then
timed, have almost superseded the soldered
ones
There is the most chance of action on the
solder, and even on the tin, in the case of
strongly acid fruits like tomatoes. All the
common fruits-the tomato, peach, plum,
cherry, apple, pear, currant, etc.-owe their
acidity to the presence of acid malates,
maiic acid or other organic acids. IT an
ordinary tin fruit can is opened and its
inner surface examined, 1t will be found
covered with the crystalline figures often
produced by the action of dilute acids on
tin, and known as "moiree metallique."
Wynter Blyth, one of the best known
English authorities, tested canned fruits
(apricots, tomatoes, etc. }, and in % samples
the amount found, calculated as stannous
hydrate, ranged from 1.9 to a. 8 grains per
pound, the mean amount being 81 grains.
The juice and fruit, in some instances, had
metallic taste. Several of the tins showed
signs at corrosion.
Can't Eat Enough to Get Sick.
But the results from all known expert
ments, made on various animals, show that
q man would have to consume at meal
about ten pounds of the most contaminated
of these fruits in order to be made very
sickI
Nothing has yet been devised which can
take the place of timed dishes for light
ness, cheapness and durability. So far as I
have tested the dishes, those from the
5-cent stores and country tin peddler's cart
are good tin.
There are more expensive glazed vessels,
but these are not always free from suspic-
ion. The far greater danger-the causes of
which have been revealed by the studies of
the past few years-is that Of lack OF clean
illness in any kind of dish, notably those in
which milk and meat are kept. Too much
cannot be said on this head, for chemical
cleanliness is almost impossible. The best
we, who live in dust-laden cities, can do is
to keep ideal cleanliness in sight. Com
pared with the risk of breathing diseased
tainted air as we go about, the danger of
eating or drinking poisonous food is ten fold;