Neptune wrote:
I have a question - although only a few tubas are nickel-plated, many have nickel silver fittings including rotary valve levers where fingers touch. Are these also a health risk???
From what I've seen while googling around, I would hazard a guess that most tuba players won't react to Nickel-silver paddles, triggers etc., but a particularly allergy-prone player (especially one that doubles on bass guitar) could possibly develop enough sensitivity to run into problems.
For a definitive answer, first check for risks with a dermatologist, then check for liabilities with a lawyer; Otherwise, the web will give you many answers, and the truth may even be in there, somewhere.
Nickel plating is probably only a hazard to brass techs and to those players who, like me, have been previously sensitized by prolonged contact with jewelry and/or clothes fasteners - my problem first showed up as blisters under the buckle of a watch strap. Unfortunately, there are many such people - estimates vary from one per thousand to one in eight of the general population (I even saw one guess on a clarinet site that said "most people are slightly allergic, and thirty percent will develop problems"). One dermatology research paper estimates 8% of women (because of their more frequent use of jewelry) and 0.8% of men, but notes that the percentage of men is increasing.
If the new regulations are effective they may prevent further increase in the prevalence of allergies, but don't hold your breath; cheap jewelry that meets the limits when new will probably start to leak Nickel as it wears, and the risk isn't obvious - if I thought about it at all, I probably assumed my watch strap had a brass buckle, but it turned out to be gold-plated, with the usual coat of Nickel under the gold. Once the allergy is acquired, it can't be fixed (in fact with continued exposure it will only get worse), so the number of players at risk is bound to go up, never down.
I have seen postings about reactions to lip-plates on flutes, and to ligatures and keys on clarinets, and from a tuba-player about rashes on his wrists after playing a St. Pete (as well as the more common reactions to mouthpieces). Mentions of allergic reactions on the fingers are rarer. Maybe the tougher skin on the hand's friction surface is less sensitive ? Googling around, I came up with plenty of problems among woodwinds (I gather Nickel-silver keys and ligatures are common, and sometimes cause problems), and was also surprised to find problems among string players (from Nickel in metal-wound strings, and from metal fittings on chin-rests). Some bass guitarists seem to get it bad, probably because Nickel-free strings don't work too well on an electric bass.
On the related solder topic: tuba players who don't drink beer from their tubas too often are probably safe from that source of lead poisoning. Fruit-juice, with its higher acid content, would be a lot more risky - stay away from demon fruit-juice. Actually, fruit juice is usually only risky in metal jugs with soldered seams, or in lead-glazed pottery (which you don't see much of, in these regulated times).
