Dear Lee,

Collecting is fun. Digging for bottles, searching attics, basements or boxes left by the curb can sometimes add rarities to your collections. But beware of hidden dangers. Chemicals, faulty locks and catches, worn and out-of-date parts, or just bad design can be damaging to you and your family—even fatal. Here’s a list of some long-ago warnings that might have been forgotten.

 

Fire

Beware of fire hazards like piles of paint rags (they can catch on fire by spontaneous combustion), old wooden matches with flammable phosphorous tops, and old cracked electrical cords on lamps. Don’t put any lamp cord under a rug where it can be walked on. Don’t put a glass paperweight in a sunny window where the sunlight could be magnified enough to scorch a table or burn paper.

 

Radiation

Old glowing watch hands, some pottery, and “radium jars” all have radium mixed in the metal or paint.

 

Old house construction

Asbestos dust found in pipe wrapping or acoustic ceiling tiles can create dangerous asbestos dust when removed.

 

Poisons

Old polishes and cleaners may be poisonous. Most poisons in medicine were outlawed in 1972 but old medicine bottles may have remains of poisons or drugs used in the past like heroine, arsenic, or mercury. Handle with care in a well-ventilated area. Inhaling the dust can be fatal.

 

Lead poisoning

Lead paint, outlawed in 1978, is still found in old houses and its dust or flakes can poison children who “eat” or inhale it. Antique pewter plates had a high lead content and cutting food on the plate may release bits of lead. Lead charm bracelets made in China were imported years ago and children may lick or bite the charms and ingest lead.

 

Children’s hazards

Watch out for old cribs, car seats, cradles, and toys with parts small enough to swallow like tiny tea sets and shoe button eyes on stuffed animals. Hope chests have heavy tops and a child could climb in, close the top, and not be able to get out. Old teething medicines have a high alcohol content.

 

Others

Stuffed animals get dusty and are bad for children with asthma. Droppings from bed bugs, wood worms and other creatures can irritate allergies. Railroad ties used in garden walls are treated with creosote which is poisonous. Mothballs keep deer away but be sure toddlers don’t eat them. Mercury thermometers may break and while the mercury is fun to play with, it’s poisonous. Never use old canning jars to preserve food if the tops do not have a tight seal. And don’t forget the famous story of a U.S. ambassador who almost died breathing the dust from the antique wallpaper in her fabulous house in Italy. The emerald green pigment was made with arsenic.

 

How did our ancestors survive with all of these hazards?!