I had nothing to cut a soup packet that could not be ripped. The only things that I could have chose between were a pen or a P.O. Box key. The P.O. box key must have been issued to owners many times before, but it’s been in my possession for about 4 months and has not been used in at least 3 months. I don’t recall its coming into contact with anything except the interior of a backpack. Nonetheless, it is discolored (i.e., it’s a lot darker than my other PO Box key).
I slit the soup packet with it thrice. It’s possible that some of the soup’s drops touched the key before falling into the bowl. Even if none of the drops did, it’s still possible that the key might’ve left something on the soup packet’s opening.
The only google result seems to be that keys are made from lead which is dangerously toxic.
Should I be worried about brain damage or stomach problems or systemic chemical composition alteration? If yes, what should I do?
Even if the key was made of a toxic metal, it has to be made of something rather strong. It can’t be a highly reactive metal, so the worst it could be is some heavier metal. There is no way a toxic amount got into your stuff.
I don’t know if this little tip is applicable to you or not, but just in case: Just because you feel anxious about something doesn’t mean there has to be a legitimate reason for that anxiety. Your feelings can and will lie to you.
A little bit more googling reveals that, apparently, there are keys out there made of a type of brass that contains a small amount of lead - presumably for lubrication or some other useful property.
It’s probably not a smart idea to let an infant suck on a bunch of that kind of keys for a long time, but for an adult, the risk from handling them or using them (to open doors or soup packets) is so small as to be nonexistent.
Lead is not particularly dangerous in its metallic form, and the people most vulnerable to harm from lead are developing children.
I thought this thread was going to be about accidentally swallowing the key. Even then I cant’ see that it would pose any harm of toxicity (it might potentially cause bowel obstruction I suppose - I could tell you a story about a case we had of a Brussels sprout that caused a small bowel obstruction, but I don’t want to put Mangetout off Brussels sprouts permanently).
It depends. Did you dip it into something bad? Had you handled something bad thenl handled the key? Did you grind the key up and breathed or swallowed the dust?
If the key was dangerous to humans it would have been made out of a different material that was safe.
In all likelihood, the key’s made out of brass like almost all keys. It may have a small amount of lead included to make it easier to machine (i.e. cut the teeth into it), but unless you’re grinding the key into a fine powder and consuming it, you’re not likely to actually get any appreciable amount of copper, zinc or lead by using it to open something.
If you’re seriously worried about it, I’d recommend you go see a mental health professional. Being anxious about such a non-event and being so unable to effectively assess risk sound like a mental health issue.
many eating and cooking utensils made of metal will have metal oxides on them. all eating and cooking utensils will have living and nonliving particles from the world on them.
if your kitchen and all its contents was maintained like a hospital operating room (the room was clean, unoxidized and sterile and everything brought into the room was clean, unoxidized and sterile) then you have fewer worries. though any food you would eat (including sealed soup packets) are risky for contamination.