Well, there is a test for arsenic that I learned in High School Chemistry but in the intervening 50 years that test has left my mental filing cabinet. It seems like it was a matter of holding some in a Bunsen burner and looking for a certain color flame, but probably not! dp David M. Porritt, RPT dporritt at smu.edu -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of David Skolnik Sent: Saturday, March 28, 2009 11:33 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Strange Green Powder David - To quote Mel Brooks, from the 2000 Year Old Man : "I'm glad we spoke". (Paul Revere) So, how do you test (not taste) for arsenic? And are there any other possibilities that would be less ominous? or more? Ds At 12:06 PM 3/28/2009, you wrote: >My suspicion would be arsenic so don't taste it. It used to be used >to kill rodents and bugs so the tuner could find the dead bodies >when he/she came to tune. > >dp > > >David M. Porritt, RPT >dporritt at smu.edu > >-----Original Message----- >From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] >On Behalf Of David Skolnik >Sent: Saturday, March 28, 2009 10:44 AM >To: pianotech at ptg.org >Subject: [pianotech] Strange Green Powder > >My dear Southern Brothers - > >Would anyone from Florida or Louisiana (or other) have any idea of >the origin of an unusual lime-ish green powder that seems to have >been distributed over the hammers and dampers of a Baldwin Acrosonic >that I looked at yesterday? The piano lived, previously in the those >states. It does not seem to relate to any copper oxidation (the >strings are fine), nor to any abraided felts (there is nothing else >of that color). Could it have been some bug or mildew >treatment? I'd like to know, before I try tasting it. Thanks > >David Skolnik >Hastings on Hudson, NY
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