Stainless steel leaches nickel and chromium into foods during cooking (2013)

Re:Stainless steel leaches nickel and chromium into foods du... by clsec on Thursday March 10, 2022 @09:24AM (#30627206)

Not OP but many people (1 in 300 Caucasians [1]) need to closely watch and minimize their iron intake because they have hereditary hemochromatosis. With hemochromatosis ones body cannot process iron. There is no cure and the only way to deal with it is to minimize iron intake and, if iron levels are too high, blood letting (phlebotomy).

[1] https://www.cdc.gov/genomics/disease/hemochromatosis.htm

edit: forgot URL

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Re:Stainless steel leaches nickel and chromium into foods du... by tonyarkles on Thursday March 10, 2022 @10:20AM (#30627869)

> if iron levels are too high, blood letting (phlebotomy)

A friend discovered a few years ago that he has (developed?) hemochromatosis. From what I understand, in Canada the "prescription" for this is to diligently donate blood to Canada Blood Services, I think more frequently than the general public is allowed to. He's got an awesome blood donation record now!

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Re:Stainless steel leaches nickel and chromium into foods du... by clsec on Friday March 11, 2022 @10:03AM (#30640742)

You can't "develop" hereditary hemochromitosis [1]. It is a genetic disorder. Both parents need to carry specific genes that when combined in the child cause hereditary hemochromitosis.

I don't know about Canada but in the US it is illegal to donate blood when you have hemochromatosis. I get phlebotomy every other month (for the past 10 yrs) and my blood is always thrown away.

[1] https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/10746/hemochromat...

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Re:Stainless steel leaches nickel and chromium into foods du... by clsec on Friday March 11, 2022 @10:08AM (#30640792)

I should have added that, yes, you can develop hemochromatosis. Just not the hereditary type.

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Re:Stainless steel leaches nickel and chromium into foods du... by tonyarkles on Friday March 11, 2022 @06:35PM (#30647466)

Looks like it's a-ok in Canada, given that you're otherwise healthy: https://www.blood.ca/en/blood/am-i-eligible-donate-blood/abc...

I have no clue if his was hereditary or not, I just remember him going to Mexico, feeling funky about half-way through the trip, and his doctor diagnosed it when he got home. Would've been in his 20s.

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Re:Stainless steel leaches nickel and chromium into foods du... by clsec on Saturday March 12, 2022 @08:11AM (#30651102)

So this conversation has gotten me to research this topic a little bit more. I'm not exactly sure if it's actually illegal in the U.S., that's just what the nurses who do my phlebotomy have told me. Though I did find that the American Red Cross does not accept blood from individuals who have hereditary hemochromatosis [1].

My case was discovered when my doctor did an iron work-up as part of checking out my liver. The normal level in men is 12-300 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL). Mine was very close to 1000 ng/mL at the time. These days my hematologist likes to keep me in the 50-75 ng/mL range.

[1] https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/blood-donation-pr...

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Re:Stainless steel leaches nickel and chromium into foods du... by kube-system on Thursday March 10, 2022 @09:34AM (#30627324)

Many more people (1 in 7) have iron-deficiency anemia.

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Re:Stainless steel leaches nickel and chromium into foods du... by a9h74j on Thursday March 10, 2022 @10:42AM (#30628146)

So many multivitamins, etc, omit iron out of fear of iron poisoning, that one can easily err on an individually-deficient side.

(The optimal window also appears narrow enough -- even people with temporary anemia must limit supplements -- that I would not attempt to rely on cookware to supply my iron requirements.)

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Re:Stainless steel leaches nickel and chromium into foods du... by kube-system on Thursday March 10, 2022 @12:16PM (#30629429)

I'm definitely not suggesting that iron pans should be a dietary supplement. I'm just doubtful that they're responsible for much iron poisoning.

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Re:Stainless steel leaches nickel and chromium into foods du... by a9h74j on Thursday March 10, 2022 @06:11PM (#30633896)

Yes, my parenthetical add-on was directed at the comments in general, not your comment. I did not intend to imply that you implied...

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