Janet H Walker on sat 23 may 98
...is there any glaze-erosion style test available for chromium...
There is a company in Framingham Massachusetts that has developed
some field testing kits for several heavy metals. I heard a talk by
the inventor and the head of R&D at the company. They make the
LeadCheck product that you can buy at Home Depot and various other
hardware or paint stores. (By the way, the lead check can be used
on pots and it shows the presence of leachable lead. It has been
calibrated to give the same results for the federal lead standards
as the lab tests do and is apparently a very reliable indicator of
leachable lead. Used by Williams-Sonoma for example to spot test
shipments of imported pottery.)
Long intro to short bit of info. They make a field test kit for
chromates. Here is the info from the company brochure:
Chromate Test Kit: An instant field test for the detection of
Chromate (CrO4) on any surface. Each swab is a complete unit.
Format: Fiber tipped swab containing glass ampule(s).
Test method:
- Activate swab by squeezing to crush glass ampule(s)
- Shake to mix. Gently squeeze swab and rub test surface.
- Tip turns pink or purple in the presence of chromate.
Sensitivity: 1 ug on solid surfaces, 10-20 ppm in liquid.
Crossreactants: None identified [that is, doesn't give colors for
other heavy metals]
Interferences: None identified [that is, other things don't prevent
this test from detecting chromates]
Now, for the caveats. I don't know whether the form of chrome in
the pottery is the chromate form. Perhaps Monona or someone can
fill us in on that info. I would guess that your exposure is more
likely to be from the fuming during firing so this check method is
probably not relevant. I expect you would have to talk with the
R&D people at the company to get some further information on whether
or how you would be able to use their product to get information
about your exposure.
These people are serious chemists and the products are patented. As
far as lead goes, they have worked with the govt in determining the
sensitivity of the tests. For other metals, they make no claims
about whether there are "safe" levels. They simply give the
sensitivity of the test, that is, what level of metal the tests will
detect reliably.
They have tests for lead, chromate, cadmium, nickel, and mercury.
The nickel test will also detect high levels of cobalt and iron.
The lead test will also detect high levels of barium. In this case,
there is no numeric definition given for "high".
Contact info for the company:
HybriVet Systems Inc
P.O. Box 1210
Framingham MA 01701
1-800-262-5323
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