Hi Jim; Actually, I thought my comment would be understood as meaning
that we all have probably been exposed to glazes that contain lead,
(and glassware that contains lead, for that matter), and I am
inferring that it has not appeared to be a major health concern.
Apparantly it’s been a bigger concern than I knew it to be. Yes, I
should have said “some” fritts contain lead. I know plenty of art
fair potters who are using fritted lead in their glazes these days.
I’ll let them know that there is a responsible opinion that this is a
dangerous practice next time the subject comes up. What I was trying
to say is this. Exposure to lead that is in the form of a glaze, an
alloy, a product (battery terminals) is depending on how it is used,
possibly dangerous, especially from long term exposure, but lead
fumes, whether from making niello or firing lead glazes, is very
dangerous and should be undertaken with all due precaution. By the
way, is anyone else given pause when about to drink coffee from one
of those brighty colored imported mugs?
Hi Tony; I understand and appreciate your position. Its pretty silly
to walk around with you finger on your pulse about every possible
threat to you health, especially when there could be more serious
threats we don’t even know about. Take radon, for instance. More
likely to cause lung cancer than cigarettes, yet a natural
phenomenon. Can’t see it, can’t smell it. Yet I’m not in the market
for a geiger counter. I do work a bit to be more responsible about
what I put into the environment. I remember when we used to pour
used motor oil down the storm drains (I wince when I think of it),
and tossing a bit of trash out the car window on the highway wasn’t
given a second thought. And I grimace at what I know some people in
our trade are still doing with things like used cyanide solutions,
pounds of old watch batteries, and all those solvents. I learned
niello work from my old friend and mentor, Phillip Fike. He was one
of, if not the principal figures responsible for the popularization
of niello among modern metalsmiths. He died in 1997, after a long
and debilitating illness. I can’t remember what he called the
condition that finally killed him, but he was certain it came about
as a result of his years of exposure to the materials he used as a
metalsmith. I don’t know if he was right, but I have to shake my
head when I think of some of the things I myself have done, like
mercury guilding and some of those deadly patinas we used to use,
stuff that made DDT look like Kool-aid. I learned the jewelry trade
from an old armenian trade jeweler. We used to use finely powdered
asbestos mixed with a little water to keep stones cool when we worked
on pieces. A little pile of the stuff right there on the bench in
front of us, no doubt blowing around in the air all the time. Today,
that practice would have probably resulted in the EPA ordering the
entire building torn down and carted away to a toxic dump. But
finally, I try to encourage my students to work safe and smart. And
I can’t very well tell them “to do as I say, not as I do.”
I’ll add my request to Noel’s. Is there anyone out there who’ll make
the noble rod for us?
I’d be quite happy to make my own niello again except for the fact
that the sulphur dioxide given off sparks off my asthma something
rotten. Last time I had to go on a ventilator!
(I’m a wuss! Even cheap white wine that’s been stabilized with SO2
gives me the wheezes)
I “potted” in the distant past and avoided lead in glazes. I would
not buy imported bright colored coffee mugs. I remember learning that
Festia tableware (that bright colored 40-50’s stuff that is making a
comeback in more pastel shades) contained uranium or cadmium that
would set off a radiation counter. In particular, it was the orange
red vessels.
Tony complains of sulfur dioxide setting off his asthma in connection
with making niello. I have a question concerning asthma in
connection with another process. I"m interested in taking a casting
workshop, but every time I"ve spent much time watching casting being
done, I"ve ended up wheezing like an old accordion. As I have no
problem with cuttlebone or sand casting , and waxes don’t bother
me, I’m wondering what kind of volatiles in lost wax casting
(primarily silver) might cause the problem. Any suggestions,
anyone? …Dee
James, What about the pottery imported from Mexico?It is hard for me
to believe they are regulating the thousands of pottery items from
abroad when most countries don’t even regulate the air they
breathe.Just curious.J Morley Coyote Ridge Studio.Where the rain has
FINALLY stopped and the asparagus is stretching up to the Colorado sky