Tin Soldiers and Lead

Q My 39-year old toy lead soldiers are turning grey and then white and are covered with white dust when kept in a box for a long time. How can I store them safely?

A Your toy soldiers have ”tin pest.” Years ago, all tin was made with some impurities like lead or other metals. This tin alloy was more stable than the nearly pure tin used in many electronic devices and in some tin soldiers. Cold weather makes the tin become ”white tin” that is brittle and then it becomes ”grey tin” and then in very cold temperatures it turns into powder and is called ”powder pest” or ”tin pest”. There is no cure if it is very cold. There is a legend that Napoleon lost the battle at Waterloo in 1812 because the tin buttons on the French uniforms disappeared in the Russian cold and the soldiers’ clothes fell apart. It seems unlikely but if its true then metal pipes on early church organs would self-destruct in very cold weather.