posted 03-14-2007 10:13 PM            

Hello Andrew:
Boy did you pose a great question. Google research indicates most of the alloys used in "White Metal were highly toxic to humans. ( See Below). Unknown is amount of toxicity leached through the silverplate coating to the heated contents of a tea pot / coffee pot

Lead in particular was banned internationally in the production of ceramic tableware some years ago. The glaze coating of old tableware had lead that would leach out to the surface . Old ceramic tableware must be thoroughly washed before use.

Andrew:
"The thing I'm concerned about is that White metal may contain traces of lead - is the alloy safe for drinking if someone tries to make tea in the teapot? "

The white metals are any of several light-colored alloys used as a base for plated silverware, ornaments or novelties, as well as any of several lead-base or tin-base alloys used for things like bearings, jewellery, miniature figures, fusible plugs, some medals and metal type.
Some of the metals that make up a white metal alloy are antimony, tin, lead, cadmium, bismuth, and zinc. Not all of these metals are found in all white metal alloys but are mixed to achieve a desired goal or need. An example would be for jewelry. You would need it to be castable, polishable, have good flow characteristics, have the ability to cast fine detail without an excessive amount of porosity and cast at between 450 F and 575 F)

Antimony compounds show toxic properties similar to those of arsenic. This depends on how much antimony a person has been exposed to, for how long, ...

Tin - currently unknown toxicity to humans .

Lead- Highly toxic to humans , particularily children .

Cadmium - a widespread heavy metal in the environment and in our bodies. It is very poisonous . One source of cadmium in our environment, and main reason for cadmium accumulating in the body, is tobacco smoke. One cigarette contains 16-24 mcg. of cadmium of which the body absorbs approximately half. In addition to this, 5 - 10% of the cadmium from our food and other sources is absorbed; therefore, a substantial amount of cadmium is stored in our body system over a number of years.

Bismuth metal is not considered toxic and poses minimum threat to humans .

posted 03-15-2007 08:54 AM            

My personal feeling is that unless old silver plate is in great shape it is better to leave it on the shelf or have it replated.

posted 03-15-2007 02:10 PM            

I would not however advocate the 18th century view of mercurial gilding. One technique used to minimize the amount absorbed by the body was to eat gold leaf, recovering the gold by a process I need not describe .