Hear the word "tin can" and most will think of a can of tuna. They were never made of tin. It is too soft to make cans out of. They'd deform under their own weight when stacked a few high. The phrase however does come from the time when the first canneries came into being. Back then, when antibiotics and unpronounceable chemical preservatives were still decades into the future, a method was needed to retard the spoilage of potted meats. Tin, a non-toxic metal, was used to coat the insides of steel cans as a barrier against the corrosion that could lead to micro-pitting and the entry of pathogens.

The advent of modern preservation techniques made the use of tinning steel obsolete but the popular association lingered on into the present. Today, tin still plays a significant industrial role in low temperature alloys like pewter and solder though its extreme softness limits its usability as a pure metal.

CAS 7440-31-5