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Chemistry / Re: What causes silver to turn black in my home?
« on: 17/04/2017 02:33:23 »
Sulfur compounds cause a particularly hard tarnish, which is usually uniformly charcoal-black, depending on how strong the fumes are, and how long exposed to it. Call these silver items your "distant early warning system" for sulfur-bearing gasses that can hurt you! One cannot always sense, with their noses, when these are present, if at fairly lower levels...still doing health harm, just cannot always detect them.
H2S from sewer gasses or commercial composting pits or Ag-pits can cause it; soft high-sulfur coal used for heating and energy production causes it, too. And, along with it, comes burning, tearing eyes, irritated airways, as well as nausea, neurological problems, depending on how strong and how long the gasses last.
When levels reach about 50 to 100 ppm, that's when the airways get more irritated [coughing], and eyes water, burn, itch.
H2S from sewer gasses or commercial composting pits or Ag-pits can cause it; soft high-sulfur coal used for heating and energy production causes it, too. And, along with it, comes burning, tearing eyes, irritated airways, as well as nausea, neurological problems, depending on how strong and how long the gasses last.
When levels reach about 50 to 100 ppm, that's when the airways get more irritated [coughing], and eyes water, burn, itch.