Re:Stainless steel leaches nickel and chromium into foods du...
by adrian_b on Thursday March 10, 2022 @06:02AM
(#30625564)
Actually what you need in your body is rust, i.e. iron ions.
Metallic iron cannot be used in any way by living beings, before it is oxidized to rust.
The leaked iron from cookware is already in the form of "rust", more precisely the iron is leached after it is oxidized to iron ions. The ions with 2 elementary charges remain dissolved in the water, and they may be absorbed by the body, while the iron ions with 3 elementary charges (these are the components of rust in the strict sense, i.e. of red iron oxide) will normally precipitate into red rust crystals, which will pass through the digestive tract mostly without being absorbed (a few might be reduced to ions with 2 charges, and then be absorbed).
Metallic iron cannot be used in any way by living beings, before it is oxidized to rust.
The leaked iron from cookware is already in the form of "rust", more precisely the iron is leached after it is oxidized to iron ions. The ions with 2 elementary charges remain dissolved in the water, and they may be absorbed by the body, while the iron ions with 3 elementary charges (these are the components of rust in the strict sense, i.e. of red iron oxide) will normally precipitate into red rust crystals, which will pass through the digestive tract mostly without being absorbed (a few might be reduced to ions with 2 charges, and then be absorbed).