I am focusing on the nontoxic issues in my studio
I have said before MY choice has been health over money.
Ordinarily I don’t personalize my posts but this one begs a reality
check:
First I find it amusing that you are going to choose a new, untested,
problematic product over a reliable less toxic product like Cupronil
that has been on the market since 1975, was developed by a native
american ( and while we are here-aren’'t native americans purported
to have an innate sense of respect for the earth?), prevents
firescale, is a firecoat and is water soluable,.and lacks the
hydrolyzed silicates present in Firescoff. What do you think “ceramic
in matrix” is actually? It is glass/sand that is liquified in
essence. If you think that is less toxic than borax, i will be the
first to say- nay- that’s right, I’m a nay sayer in this
instance…nay, nay…In fact, i find it more amusing that in your
quest for health you are going to send back two products rather
thatn neutralize and dispose of them properly…what’s worse, the
fossil fuel consumption in the round trip to your door, or a label
that says it may be hazardous to your health, or fetal health?..and
who issued the labels…if you are trusting the government then this
is moot!
Secondly, you are probably more exposed to chemicals taking a bath or
a shower if you live in a city, than the health risks from non-
flouride, or non-hydrochloric acid based liquid fluxes, like
Cupronil. Your pores let in all sorts of chlorines and other
contaminants in the shower or bath than the combined risks of using
fluxes if you are responsible in their use and wear a respirator. How
often do you change your respirator cartridges? How many microns of
particles pass your nose on the way to the " air purifier", and why
is it turning black in a week ( that black can be recycled by
refiners it is traces of gold or silver and many companies turn that
into credit- albeit through a combustion and chemical process)? If
you want to be most healthful ionic bonding forces the particles
bonded to…ions down onto the floor or surfaces due to their weight
being heavier than room air, after which you can then - simply-
vacuum with a rainbow brand vacuum cleaner that traps everything in
water, rather than in a bag or canister, then wipe down every tool
and surface daily if you think your health is that affected…Also
how does that air purifier get powered?, by the sun, by wind…nay i
say! i’m betting you plug it in a wall and pay a bill at the end of
the month…again, i am amused at the statements, and paranoia
generated from a label that is required to be put on anything
containing chemicals by various regulatory agencies. If california
feeds massive doses of everything to anything of course the potential
for health risks to humans, aquatic life, and fetuses are
compromised…What do you know of the methodology that gains a warning
lable like you are buying into? What makes you think for one second,
that Firescoff has been tested at all for any risks. We know it has
complications in regards to waterways, it doesn’t spray right and
consequently drips down a user’s hands ( if not wearing nitrile
gloves) when the bottle gets low, or seal is “off” at all, among
other problems, and ones yet to surface. Cupronil has been around
since 1975, with nary a claim made against the manufacturer for
health related illness. on the contrary, it is among the safest
fluxes on the market, barring borax and water, or boric acid,borax
and alcohol, with superior results.
Everyone is perhaps aware that using micro finishing sandpapers
eliminate the need for pickle at all- but there are safe pickles
available as well: for example, citric acid, glacial acetic acid,
and hydrogen peroxide- if used responsibly all are as harmless as
setting lemon juice in the sun to reduce it…if misused all pose
certain heaalth risks, so its all in the application and the
applicator…and the perspective. If global health is not your concern
then return those products and use tons of electricity and fossil
fuels to get it from your door to the suppliers. It all depends on
one’s point of view and the larger picture, versus the smaller one,
and an individual’s choices. I live in a house powered by the sun and
wind and water, and have gravity delivered spring water exclusively
and it gets to my spigots via a sealed clay pipe running through the
forest, and the water goes through a filter i designed that contains
charcoal, sand, gold and silver particles and silver mesh before it
recieves a flash of ultra-violet light produced by battery operated
contact that is triggered by pressure- then i drink it, shower in it,
use it, distill it for jewelry making, and water my animals with
it,etc…I’m betting you live in a city and are exposed to chlorinated
and flouridated water for bathing and cooking and other water
requirements in everyday life…I’m also betting you brush your teeth
with sodium bicarbonbate and flouridated water - at best- the risks
from swallowing are far greater than the risks of exposure to
contaminants from using cupronil properly and with protection to your
hands, eyes, and respiratory system…If you swim in a lake or a pool
your health is more compromised than through the responsible use of
fluxes and soldering practises. It’s all about perspective.
I’m also betting in your quest for healthfulness you shop at a health
food store. I personally find them a mecca of marketing ingenuity; to
proffer onto the buyer that they are contributing to global health is
ridiculous at least. Excessive packaging is the selling point in
health food stores, if it were not, and people truly thought about
the ramifications of specialty shopping, they would buy everything
out of bulk bins, saving trees, and eliminating the plastics
profusion, and encoraging smaller scale production methods to deliver
healthful products in a responsible way to the target markets- that
is the same people who propose to care about their health and the
environment…the packaging doesn’t lie. Labels lie…Everything
containing chemicals has a label on it- and every chemical if
ingested in large enough quantities has adverse affects… And what of
the testing methodology that gains a label?..again, perspective and
whether or not yours is small or large scale and truly thoughtful
about every facet of a given thing…from its origins, to production,
to delivery, application, transport, and toll it takes on the planet
before it arrives at your studio…Its a similar situation with
organic foods industry. I would no more rather purchase a product
that comes with dirt clinging to it than i would believe it is better
than a product that has been rinsed and exposed to uv light ( we are
not talking about redio active waves, but light waves).If a field is
certified to not have had chemicals applied to it in 7-10 years
great, but what about the people that harvest those products and the
conditions that they experience in that chemical free field?
Scientific evidence largely points to the harvesters and a
corre;lation between the lack of sanitation and hygenic facilities
for workers in the produce industry, organic or not, and the large
amout of e.coli and other vastly more harmful things than borax
entering into the food chain, and the reproductive cycle of man and
animal…Do ou know how or wher eyour produce is handled? and how is
it packaged? …so what is worse?? its all in an individuals choices
and the reality of a given topic…I happen to find it unconscionable
that you would return the products and state that you chose health
over money…it seems a bit selfish given the global picture, no? What
does focusing on non-toxic issues really mean, in a studio, silver
itself is a toxin if you ingest a large enough quantity of it…
Perhaps i have become jaded as an industrial health consultant, and
former anthropologist, but one cannot make jewelry without chemistry
and exposing oneself to risks…Jewelry making is about taking risks
as an artist. Its the responsible informed application of the person
creating the pieces that is what safety boils down to, not trusting a
label, or a new product that makes unsubstantiated ( as yet)
claims…and if money is of no concern where there are health matters
at hand, then throw some where it will make a difference…I know of
an american city in utter ruin at present, with bodies yet to be
found in ruined homes, and no one has the money to rebuild or even
get back to reclaim their possessions, and the federal government
has done nothing, nor has the state, nor city, nor rest of the
world…except Angelina Jolie, and Brad Pitt, who moved there to
bring awareness to the dire situation that makes it like a fourth
world country…it is truly a health hazard on a large scale…it all
depends on one’s perspective and based n reality… So
if yu truly care about world health, and not just your own, get out
the sodium bicarb and neutralize the fluxes and don’t consider
sending them to whence they came…then take some 100% post consumer
waste paper and wrap the plastic bottles or containers they came in,
removing the components that won’t break down first, and toss it -
where?, in the trrash, destined for a landfill, and where is that
landfill? in your city or mine, or in the ocean somewhere on the
globe??? And what about the components that won’t break down
readily- like the tin, or alloyed and perhaps cyanide based plating
on the metal used in the spring of the sprayer assembly? What will
you do with that? burn it?, dissolve it in aqua regia?..then what???
I must admit my frustration with statements like yours regarding
womens health being more important than mans health, and your studio
being somehow less toxic than anyone elses when I’m betting you are
not so removed from consumerism as to not even consider the effects
of your actionson a larger scale…June Culp Zeitner has lived to
over 90 as a lapidarist and jewelry maker. She began when asbestos
was de riguer to jewelry making and many chemicals were used with out
protection other than common sense.She has no adverse health issues
from her art and craft to date…