Gary W. Wagoner on tue 4 nov 97
Most of what has been written about the use of uranium as a
colorant has included the appropriate warnings about the attendent dangers,
though some posts have equated the hazards of uranium oxide with normal
background radiation to which we are all exposed. In the 70's I knew a
potter in Wichita named Gary Ball who was particularly proud of some
brilliant oranges he was able to get at cone 10 using uranium. These glazes
killed him. Admittedly, he was spraying the glazes,(with a mask but
probably not a HEPA filter) and I'm pretty sure he gave himself other
opportunities to inhale/ingest the glaze dusts that tend to accumulate in
glaze application areas. But the rare cancer which killed him was a direct
result of the use of uranium in glazes; it was not caused by weak
emanations from the materials (as the end user of his pots might be exposed
to) but direct contact of radioactive particles with his lung tissues. He
developed his cancer very quickly, and it ran its course very quickly. I
think anyone would be incredibly foolish to take such risks, and I hope no
one whose curiousity is piqued by this line of discussion will even
consider using uranium in their studio.
Gary Wagoner
Auburn University
| |
|
