Be careful when dealing with antiques and old stuff!

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

I bought a really beautiful, silver plated Art Deco tea pot a few days ago. But when making my first pot of tea in it, my flat mate and me were alarmed by a intense, foul smell. I phoned the women who sold it to me, and she told me that it might be because I made Roiboos instead of black tea in it, and that it might be some smell in the object - she recommended me to make some black tea in it and let it set over night. But when trying this, I realized that it wasn't the pot itself, but rather the handle that stank viciously from being indirectly heated when I poured the hot water in. Doing some research, I stumbled not only over this page that explains where the problem with my stinking tea pot lies (probably, a previous owner overheated it, and now it emits formaldehyde and/or other compounds even when only gently heated), but also various pages that warn about specific or general dangers when dealing with old items: Old cloth might contain DDT or other pestizides, old electronic items (and especially hairdryers, but also Bakelite items like Telephones or Radios) Asbestos, old cosmetic products seem to be extremely nasty, and antiques in general might contain lead (and sometimes uranium), or other chemicals might be used to produce and treat stuff, and so on - sometimes because people were just more relaxed about possible health hazards, but usually because they were merely unknown back then.

I'll try to send the tea pot back, and I hope we didn't inhale too much of those fumes . In future, I'll think twice before I get any antiques.

Be careful when shopping, and especially cleaning or working items that are a few decades old.

[Kissasta]

Makes a lot of sense honestly! I noticed my hands tended to swell when looking/handling stuff at my local antique malls, figured it may have been some residues or what have you.
I am not nearly brave enough to try eating/drinking off anything older than the 80's with antique mall stuff myself. Sorry to hear about the pot not working out for ya! Hope it at least looks cool or maybe the old plastic could be removed?

[Cobra!]

I wonder if you get an old peice of electronics, if it's possible to take the asbestos out? I assume the plastics are made from it and need everything replaced?

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

I wonder if you get an old peice of electronics, if it's possible to take the asbestos out? I assume the plastics are made from it and need everything replaced?

It doesn't affect all plastic, but it is hard to tell if it is; and the information available online about how secure handling this plastic is varies heavily (from "absolutely secure, as long as you don't crack/saw it" to "it becomes unstable with the time and will set the asbestos free").

There are also electronic parts where asbestos is used outside of plastic (phones, hair-driers, and so on). Here, the asbestos could theoretically be removed - but to do this securely, you need special equipment and clothing, as working with asbestos is seriously problematic.

@Kissasta The seller took it back :). Its a shame, though - it was a wonderful piece...

[thefanciestpigeon]

this person I follow on youtube made a video a while ago about buying antique clocks and how sometimes they have radium in them. apparently a number of people own radium clocks without knowing and sell them to people without telling them that the clocks might be dangerously radioactive. and she talks about how you can't tell by looking at a clock to tell because most old radium clocks don't glow anymore even though they are still dangerous. She recommends getting a geiger counter if you plan to get into antique clock collecting!

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

Thats damn crazy. I knew that radioactive material was used in clocks when my father was a boy (he once told me that he had one), but somehow I'd never thought that they could still be around