I think this would look awesome since it would match the bronze drawer pulls. I have heard that the patina can be toxic. Or is just drinking from copper pipes that is bad? Advice please.
Are you planning on eating it or just looking at it. Remember that copper is used for mixing bowls, plumbing, cookware, drinking vessels if it was toxic there would be a lot of dead people from it. Besides, doesn't matter what the material is, if you ingest enough of it, it will probably be toxiceven water.
Put it in a metallic box with as few holes as possible. If you need holes keep them small. If you need ventilation then use a grid of holes. Hard to say more without any idea of the circuit. BEng MIEE
Shielding with a grounded aluminium foil is a cheap way to do it with limited results. Another way is a box comprised of plastic coated in metallic ink (nickel or copper), this should also be grounded.
All copper compounds, unless otherwise known, should be treated as if they were toxic. Thirty grams of copper sulfate is potentially lethal in humans. The suggested safe level of copper in drinking water for humans varies depending on the source, but tends to be pegged at 1.5 to 2 mg/L. The DRI Tolerable Upper Intake Level for adults of dietary copper from all sources is 10 mg/day. In toxicity, copper can inhibit the enzyme dihydrophil hydratase, an enzyme involved in haemopoiesis.
Any metal ingested in a large enough quantity is toxic, which applies to many other substances, also. Drinking from copper pipes is not bad. The problem was/is the lead-based solder used in many of them. P.S. bronze also contains copper and how many pennies do you handle a day without poisoning yourself yet?
