Rimas VisGirda on wed 13 jun 12
In college I used to sell crafty things at local summer fairs. Some of the =
work was acetylene torch cut galvanized sheet; I found the black slag edge =
with the powdery yellow/white residue quite attractive. I would do the cutt=
ing outside (no fan) and would find myself feeling like I had a mild flu th=
e next day, just a bit under the weather but perfectly able to function; no=
vomiting, I HATE vomiting. How a substance affects a person depends on the=
ir personal physiology but what happens is that any adverse reaction seems =
to cause the fear mongers among us to go into overdrive... At my boys' pre-=
school some kids may have been allergic to peanut butter which came down to=
NO-ONE could bring peanut butter or peanuts or anything that contained pea=
nuts to school; this then segues into all nuts. In our (ceramic) case, same=
thinking for lead, chrome, cadmium, fumes, dust, and now zinc... I'm afrai=
d that, as a generalization (I know, I know, it is sweeping), we as
individuals don't take the reponsibility to monitor our own bodies and hea=
lth and rely on the lowest common denominator legislated by who knows who.
I had saved this as a draft and forgot about it for some days, now I see th=
at we have gone from flu like symptoms to "heavy metal poisoning" which sou=
nds like we are at Death's Door if we even approach hot zinc...
Last weekend we went to the local dirt track oval stock car races. At one p=
oint one of the cars left the track and raised an amazing cloud of dust tha=
t completely obscured the track and settled over the grandstands... I think=
I breathed more dust that evening than I do in a year in the studio... I u=
nderstand that breathing dust is not healthy, but I think there's an over-r=
eaction to controlling the dust in ceramic studios. We live out of town wit=
h farms all around; we don't typically leave doors and windows open but our=
house gets dustier, quicker than any ceramic studio I have taught in... -R=
imas
Robert Harris on wed 13 jun 12
Although I certainly agree with all you have to say about personal
responsibility, I would say that the dust particles that are
problematic are those below 5 microns in size. These are much much
more likely to be present in the materials we use in the pottery, that
have been crushed heavily, than ordinary 'dirt'.
Unfortunately these particles also don't settle out hours and hours,
and are practically invisible.
On Wed, Jun 13, 2012 at 10:38 AM, Rimas VisGirda wrote:
> In college I used to sell crafty things at local summer fairs. Some of th=
=3D
e work was acetylene torch cut galvanized sheet; I found the black slag edg=
=3D
e with the powdery yellow/white residue quite attractive. I would do the cu=
=3D
tting outside (no fan) and would find myself feeling like I had a mild flu =
=3D
the next day, just a bit under the weather but perfectly able to function; =
=3D
no vomiting, I HATE vomiting. How a substance affects a person depends on t=
=3D
heir personal physiology but what happens is that any adverse reaction seem=
=3D
s to cause the fear mongers among us to go into overdrive... At my boys' pr=
=3D
e-school some kids may have been allergic to peanut butter which came down =
=3D
to NO-ONE could bring peanut butter or peanuts or anything that contained p=
=3D
eanuts to school; this then segues into all nuts. In our (ceramic) case, sa=
=3D
me thinking for lead, chrome, cadmium, fumes, dust, and now zinc... I'm afr=
=3D
aid that, as a generalization (I know, I know, it is sweeping), we as
> =3DA0individuals don't take the reponsibility to monitor our own bodies a=
nd=3D
health and rely on the lowest common denominator legislated by who knows w=
=3D
ho.
>
> I had saved this as a draft and forgot about it for some days, now I see =
=3D
that we have gone from flu like symptoms to "heavy metal poisoning" which s=
=3D
ounds like we are at Death's Door if we even approach hot zinc...
>
> Last weekend we went to the local dirt track oval stock car races. At one=
=3D
point one of the cars left the track and raised an amazing cloud of dust t=
=3D
hat completely obscured the track and settled over the grandstands... I thi=
=3D
nk I breathed more dust that evening than I do in a year in the studio... I=
=3D
understand that breathing dust is not healthy, but I think there's an over=
=3D
-reaction to controlling the dust in ceramic studios. We live out of town w=
=3D
ith farms all around; we don't typically leave doors and windows open but o=
=3D
ur house gets dustier, quicker than any ceramic studio I have taught in... =
=3D
-Rimas
--=3D20
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