ABS Resin Cancer Risk
Moderators: Classitar, pied_piper, Phineas
ABS Resin Cancer Risk
Should I worry about the cancer risk from the ABS resin body of a piccolo? I recently purchased a Bundy piccolo and, of course, the owner's manual says the usual bit about it being made from materials that are a known cancer risk in the state of California... Just curious to hear your opinions on this subject. Thanks!
From what I've read in the past 5 minutes online, apparently some of the chemicals (in liquid or vaporous forms) used to make this plastic are considered mutagenic whereas the hardened ABS itself is basically stable/inert unless you expose it to melting temperatures. Or, maybe the Bundy uses something else?
You can only do so much to keep ABS and other plastics out of your living environment. ABS is heavily used in most modern consumer electronics, cars (bumpers etc), just about all computers (casing materials), your cell phone or home phone, piping (uh-hum, for the water you drink!).
If you are concerned about the mutagenic properties of the chemical compounds used to make ABS, then you should also worry about the chemicals used to make other plastics, such as those used in containers for the food you buy or store in the fridge, and especially if you heat any of these plastics as containers when warming foods in the microwave. That's definitely a no-no.
You can only do so much to keep ABS and other plastics out of your living environment. ABS is heavily used in most modern consumer electronics, cars (bumpers etc), just about all computers (casing materials), your cell phone or home phone, piping (uh-hum, for the water you drink!).
If you are concerned about the mutagenic properties of the chemical compounds used to make ABS, then you should also worry about the chemicals used to make other plastics, such as those used in containers for the food you buy or store in the fridge, and especially if you heat any of these plastics as containers when warming foods in the microwave. That's definitely a no-no.
Thank you for the reply, wally! Like you said, it's hard to keep ABS resin and other plastics out of our everyday lives since it is used in so many things. When I first saw the warning on the piccolo owner's manual, I thought to myself, "Well, I'm certainly NOT going to be putting this in the microwave or boiling it or exposing it to open flame!" And, I'm thinking the laquer finish on the piccolo body would prevent most, if not all, of the potentially harmful chemicals from being absorbed by my skin. So, I guess I'm just going to enjoy learning to play this piccolo and not worry about it! I am definitely careful, though, when it comes to heating my food in the microwave -- I remove it from the original packaging and place it in a glass container -- and, most often I store my food in a glass container.
I appreciate your thoughts on the subject! Have a good week!
I appreciate your thoughts on the subject! Have a good week!