Acidic Body Chemistry

Hey there,

Are there risks associated with having an acidic body chemistry? I don’t know if that’s even the right term, so I’m not sure how to navigate finding more info.

I play brass musical instruments for a living and all of the contact points on my instruments tend to have damage to the lacquer finish. This isn’t that uncommon in our world, a lot of players will experience this, and I’ve never really thought much about it.

The repair guy who does maintenance on my instruments told me tonight that having “acidic body chemistry” makes me much more likely to get cancer. I’ll admit he freaked me out a bit, but I also don’t want to just take his word for it. Is my acidity easily tested? Do I need to go see my doctor? How much sleep should I lose over this?

Welcome back!

I wouldn’t lose any sleep over this, as I can say with 100% certainty your body’s pH is tightly controlled at right around 7.4. If you were even slightly acidic, that is a very serious medical emergency that is incompatible with life.

Next time you see your repair guy, tell him Dr. Jordan Feigenbaum requests a citation for his claim. :slight_smile:

2 Likes

Thanks! I felt a little silly even asking about it but I do feel better now…

All good. The Alkaline Water market does > 11 million/yr in the US under the guise of optimizing pH. It does nothing. :joy:

1 Like

Hey, in addition to Jordan’s reassurances about your systemic acidity (or lack thereof), - and apologies for the off-topic Dr F - I wonder if your instrument wear is related to the lacquer your guy is using?

Some air-dry solvent lacquer just doesn’t hold up to friction, particularly if you get clammy fingers - maybe a baked epoxy lacquer would be better?

Also, those who sweat ‘slowly’ when playing may have relatively low pH sweat (acidic relative to water which is neutral) - if the lacquer is rubbing off, acidic sweat can accelerate the visible tarnish on brass alloys.

Not sure it’s the lacquer any repair person is using as it’s an issue with both brand new instruments and old instruments that have seen lots of repair. It’s a pretty common thing, I have discussed it many times over the years with colleagues who have the same problem and we’ve always just shrugged about it… which is what I’ll go back to doing!

It does seem to be a result for some and not all, so there must be varying levels of pH in sweat or whatever (I’m rarely actually sweating when I play), which I suppose opens the door to someone thinking there’s something wrong with some of us. Not sure what to make of it so again I’ll just go back to shrugging.