John Post on sun 20 may 07
One of the most irresponsible uses of lead glazes is on kid pots.
If you browse through the Amaco catalog you will see that many of their
cone 05/06 glazes contain lead and or cadmium.
Art teachers here in Michigan are not required to take any courses about
the possible material hazards they will encounter on the job.
I was doing a throwing demonstration at a local K-12 school and noticed
that none of their kilns were vented and that most of their glazes were
Amaco lead glazes. When I discussed this with the teachers there,
neither had ever heard of the problems posed by lead and when I
recommended they switch to lead free glazes, they couldn't imagine doing
it since the kids liked the colors and textures of the lead glazes, and
how could they possibly get along without their favorite red?
I told them that as teachers they would be the ones to suffer the
greatest exposure to lead over time but even this didn't seem to register.
Amaco complies with the laws in labeling these products but not too many
teachers I have run across read the fine print in the catalog about
which glazes are lead free and which are not. They shop purely by color.
John Post
Sterling Heights, Michigan
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>Just have some mugs tested for lead and cadmium - there are lots of labs
>around that will do this for about $35.
>
>I would not fire either it in my kilns.
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>RR
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