March 6, 2012 by Debra Lynn Dadd
Question from Sue
As I was taking apart a wood frame on a very old mirror, it occurred to me that the mirror might have toxic materials (such as lead, heavy metals etc) on the back of it. How about new mirrors? Any thoughts or info would be appreciated. Thank you.
Debra's Answer
Mirrors are made by fixing silver or aluminum particles to glass, and then a paint is applied to the back to protect the metal coating. Various industrial applications are utilized to do this.
I don't see anything about a new mirror that would cause a toxic exposure from breathing or touching.
Old mirrors can contain mercury so caution would-be used. Read more here.
Toxic-Free Q&A
These are archives of Q&A asked by readers and answered by Debra Lynn Dadd (from 2005-2019) or Lisa Powers (from 2019-2020).Answers have been edited and updated as of December, 2020.
