ACTSNYC@cs.com on thu 20 apr 00
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 14:23:10 EDT
> From: Gavin Stairs
> Reply-To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
> To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
> Subject: Re: Leaches
> Resent-Subject: Re: Leaches
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> At 03:39 PM 4/18/00, Peter Atwood wrote:
> >...Seriously, if real life leaching amounts are so low, then why the big
> >to do?
> >I understand that the level of awareness needs to be raised so that people
> >will not produce ware that is changing color or leaching tons of barium
and
> >the like. But don't you think that it is sometimes going a little too far?
> ...
> Hi Peter,
> The answer to this is simple: the standards are set so as to protect
> people who do not understand, or forget, and who may use the pot in a way
> that will leach spectacularly well, and contribute significant doses of
> leached substance over a long time. An example given is of a child who was
> poisoned by being served orange juice every day in a mug which leached. I
> can't remember what the toxin was, but it was apparently toxic enough to
> make the child ill.
>
Can anyone out there help me? There have been a number of orange juice
incidents, but I seem to remember that one happened in the 1970s or 1980s in
Canada. I can't find my file on this and would appreciate anyone who could
point me to a record of this incident. As near as I can remember, a mother
kept orange juice in a jug in the frig. I don't think it was Mexican ware.
When her twin boys came down with symptoms of the flu which were actually
lead poisoning symptoms she doubled up on the orange juice to get more fluids
into them. I think one twin died or was brain damaged.
> This means that for the vast majority of us, virtually any pot which
> doesn't fall apart in our hands is probably safe enough. Except if we use
> it daily as our coffee or tea mug... or store juice in it... get the
> idea? In Canada, the regulatory authorities reckon that any pot without a
> hole in it may be used in such a manner as to leach in the standard
> fashion. Maybe someone will feel that it is just the thing to keep salad
> dressing in...for a month or so.
The US FDA agrees and has suggested in print that pregnant women not use
ceramic mugs for their daily beverage consumption--especially not for hot
beverages. But a jug or small bowl looks like it should be something you
should be able to keep full in the frig for a little while. If we want
people to use ceramics only for the short term, there should be one hell of
a public education campaign, because it isn't obvious to most people.
> For myself, I figure that any pot that passed a rudimentary durability test
> is ok for simple use, perhaps as a soup bowl. For sale, I would definitely
> not make any such assumption, because I don't know what the buyer will do
> with it. For a food storage bowl, or for an everyday use bowl, I insist on
> a durable, non-toxic glaze; a liner glaze. I don't use the Mexican lead
> glaze bowl for acid food. But I know people who have no such
> discrimination, and who would cheerfully use a badly formulated lead glaze
> pot to keep lemon juice or salad dressing in. So for my own peace of mind,
> I would not make a liner glaze with any toxic oxides, and test for leaching
> anyway, as a durability test.
> Gavin
Good plan depending on the test.
Monona Rossol
ACTS
181 Thompson St., # 23
NYC NY 10012-2586 212/777-0062
ACTSNYC@cs.com
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