Is Tarnished Jewelry Safe?

June 17, 2008 by Debra Lynn Dadd

Question from Lisa

Dear Debra, 

Can you tell me if tarnished jewelry is safe to wear? Specifically, I'm wondering about sterling silver earrings that are tarnished and have glints of the copper alloy coming through when once it was a pure silver look. 

I know that silver polishing can be quite toxic, so I do not want to use any chemical polish. 

I'm just wondering if the tarnished earrings are safe to wear as is. 

Also, is there any other reason that sterling silver would not be safe to wear as jewelry? 

Thank you. 

Debra's Answer

The tarnish is silver sulfate, which is slightly toxic. Wearing tarnished jewelry can cause skin irritation.

But it is easy to remove tarnish without toxic chemicals. Just take any aluminum (such as an aluminum pan or aluminum foil) and any salt (such as table salt or baking soda) and put it in water and soak the silver in it. It will just magnitize away. I demonstrated this on television once many years ago.