Just how bad is warangan?

[silkreeler]

I'm curious if I've been taking the right precautions, or have I been over villainizing warangan on Keris? I just washed my keris in kitchen sink, and afterwards I wiped everything clean to make sure no traces of arsenic left so my dishes won't get traces of arsenic. A friend of mine said I've been overdoing it because warangan on keris is salt instead of base, so it is safer. And besides, it won't wash off easily so as to give a significant amount of arsenic to be dangerous. What do you guys think?

[David]

Well, i do believe that i have heard a lot of people blow the dangers of using arsenic to stain keris a bit out of proportion. When taking proper precautions i think it is generally safe to use. That said i would never wash my keris in the kitchen sink where i do my dishes. I have a work sink in the basement where i do my clean up, but i do the actual work in a dedicated basin and try not to dump any substantial amount of warangan down even that sink because i do not want to add arsenic into the sewer system if i can help it. Your method does not seem cautious enough for me. Perhaps others will have a different opinion. :shrug:

[A. G. Maisey]

I suggest that you read this:-

http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/intheworkplace/arsenic

and make your own decision.