John Baymore on sat 28 sep 96
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From: Monnona Rossol
" .....I have told the FDA ........ ...... locate craft
potters...... .....see this problem almost every time .......... at
long last, ........ ........ seems to be a program for doing this."
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Monona,
Welcome back.
I saw that piece in the CR and cringed! I have already written a letter to The
Craft Report about it. The level of understanding of the problem the author
exhibits, and hence communicates to the readership, is pretty low. And very
narrow in focus. Unless the tone was from the editors who cut stuff for brevity
. Still...... it was a great opportunity for the editorial staff to "flesh
it out" with a bunch of other health and safety info in the issue. They
obviously didn't take it as that.
As an interesting note to this....... back about a year ago the local NH branch
compliance office of the FDA sent a letter to all of the members of the NH
Potter's Guild with a simple one page survey that was to be completed concerning
type and volume of wares produced, and materials used. The letter stated
clearly that they were looking for those whose work they might need to test.
Obviously, they were looking for lead and cadmium materials on functional wares,
their legal jurisdiction.
I was very pleased to recieve the letter. Someone was finally doing something
about at least this issue. I sent them back the survey with a letter inviting
them to visit the studio even though I use no lead or cadmium compounds or
commercial materials that contain them. I also offered to submit typical
molecular formulas, firing schedules, and my testing data if that would be of
assistance. (They have not yet visited.) The letter also had suggestions about
communicating the importance of this isuue with the handcraft community via the
pottery trade mags. I gave them a list of contact people and the addresses.
The only negative is that I never got any response to my letter at all!
Inconsiderate.
While I was pleased to see the effort, it seemed that there was a poor reaction
out of some of the membership of the Guild. It seems that the officers of the
Guild took a lot of heat for giving the FDA the mailing list when asked to do
so! I have heard that it went so far as to have them consult a lawyer to find
out that they did not, in fact, HAVE to supply the list to the FDA. Many seemed
to feel that giving the list to the FDA somehow was a violation of trust or
something.
I certainly am no fan of "big government", but this issue seems pretty clear.
..................................john
PS: Flameproofing section (Yes, I will admit that there probably are a few
people (not too many though) out there that have the depth of knowledge, quality
equipment, and time to handle lead and cadmium bearing glazes on functional
wares and minimize the risks to both the producer and the users. I would
imagine that those people would have nothing to "fear" from the FDA or
OSHA....... if they are doing it right then there is no problem.)
PPS: FDA Lead and Cadmium Limits (California is lower)
LEAD
Cups, Mugs, Pitchers, etc. ........... 0.5 ug/ml
Bowls ............................................... 1.0 ug/ml
Plates ............................................. 3.0 ug/ml
CADMIUM
Cups, Mugs, etc. ............................. 0.5 ug/ml
Pitchers, Bowls, etc ....................... 0.25 ug/ml
Plates ................................................ 0.5 ug/ml
These are just for general info purposes. Get the actual standards from the
FDA, ....... it has a lot more info. Plus such things change periodically.
To paraphrase another's "trailer" on posts...............
" 0.5 Ug/ml....... its not just a good idea...... it's the LAW."
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086
76506.3102@Compuserve.com
Shirley Cumming on sun 29 sep 96
John; Thankyou for your post on random lead testing. I was very interested.
Have been unable to find much on this. Would appreciate anything else you
run across. Most of my pots are functional pieces, and I try to only use
lead free materials, but sometimes I wonder if I can trust the retail source
and labels. I wish I could find a test kit to be used in the studio--for my
own satisfaction.
I sometimes work with polymer clay and have been trying to find anything
on vinyl chloride. Wondering if this could be absorbed by the skin. You
have given me the idea that I could check out the FDA.
Thanks, Shirlawn@aol.com
Karen Gringhuis on sun 29 sep 96
Refer to Ceramics Monthly article June/July/Aug 1993 "Get the Lead out"
by Val Cushing with yours truly. Do not trust home test kit especially
if you really think lead is involved. It seems to me that major mfgrs.
have too much to lose to label inaccurately particularly about a
hazard like lead. It could put them out of business! If you're still
worried, a PROFESSIONAL testing lab is listed in the article.If you can't
find article, let me know & I'd be glad to send a xerox. Regards,
Karen Gringhuis
BobWicks@aol.com on wed 2 oct 96
Hi Shirl:
I read your message regarding lead testing and have something to tell you. I
found a Household lead test kit in a drug store. It is manufactured by
HYBRIVET SYSTEMS, INC. FRAMINGHAM, MA 01701 phone number is 1-800-262-Lead.
You get two swabs to use for $5 and also two lead samples to confirm that it
does work. It's very easy to use and I thought you might be interested. I
use them on pieces of lead suspect pottery.
Good luck potting.
Bob
Shirley Cumming on fri 4 oct 96
Hi Karen; Thanks for referring me to the article on lead. I found it at the
library and it answered a lot of my questions. Wouldn't you know I started
taking Ceramics Monthly the month after. Those people at the reference desk
at the library sure are a great help. She looked it up and said the magazine
would be waiting for me. I made a copy and also copies of the low fire glaze
receipes which were in the same magazine, and that I was glad to find. Again
thanks for your response.
shirlawn@aol.com
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