May harmonica be toxic?
Hi,
i just bought a suzuki mr 350 promaster, and after i figured out that the reed plate is made of phosphor bronze.
This alloy (phosphor bronze, that has many variations) may contain several toxic (dangerous to health, carcinogenic...) as lead (Pb), tin (Sn) and others.
Others harmonica has brass reed plates, an alloy that also have bas elements.
So my question is: if we are putting harmonicas made of those elements on our mouths daily, or several times in a week, for years, is there any chance to develope a disease or have some healt problem, or anything bad, because of those elementes in ours harmonicas? If yes, should we only play in all, full made of, food grade stainless steel (does someone knows a harmonica model like that)?
Thanks for the great answer!
An engineer with no medical background answer :
-if the alloy (metal) doesn't corrode with saliva, no parts of the metal will go from the harp into your body
-so if there is no issue due to simple contact, I would say that there is no issue at all.
thanks!
Does any body know that Suzuki promaster reedplate edges are exposed to a player mouth?
Yes they are.
"A study of hospital doorknobs shows that brass and copper impede bacterial growth, while aluminum and stainless steel let the bacteria run wild" Interesting I thought.
Nobody has mentioned the very strong likelyhood of addiction irrespective of brand of harp. Just saying
Liquid copper is a well know and used as a safe fungicide.
i realy do not understand why suzuki promaster has the reedplates edge so exposed....i dont think it is a good idea to have my tongue touching it all the time, but probably has some good reason
The Promaster is no different from many other models with exposed reedplates - Suzuki Manji, Suzuki Olive, Suzuki Fabulous, Hohner Marine Band, Deluxe and Crossover, Hohner Golden Melody, Meisterklasse, Blues Harp, Big River, Seydel 1847, and probably others I'm not thinking of.
It's simply easier to build a harmonica in "sandwich" construction, rather thank sinking the reedplates into the comb. And many players prefer sandwich construction. It lets the player get closer to the reeds without the barrier of a mouthpiece, and it makes flattening the comb by sanding much easier.
Thanks!
The question has come up before about whether oral contact with brass is harmful to health. There are no studies that I'm aware of, and no reports of ill effects. Some harmonica players live until nearly 100, others not so long, but their health problems - or lack of them - seem to be within the normal varieties of what humans experience with age.
While Seydel uses stainless steel reeds on some of their harmonicas, they do not use stainless steel for reedplates. Instead they use what is called Geman Silver (also called nickel sliver), while is an alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc.
Not all harmonicas expose the reedplate edges to the player's mouth. Some sink the reedplates into the comb, so that the player contacts the plastic rim of the comb, and the stainless steel of the covers. Some of the models that use this configuration include the Hohner Special 20 and Rocket models, Lee Oskar harmonicas, Seydel Session Steel, and Suzuki Harpmaster.