Paul Lewing on mon 23 apr 01
mel jacobson wrote:
She's under the
> impression that these chemicals are highly toxic and
> are dangerous to touch (the director is for the rec
> center, not for the studio and isn't involved with pottery at all).
> I may be mistaken, but I didn't think
> that they were THAT hazardous. ?? I know you need to
> wear a mask while mixing glazes, but I thought it was
> to prevent significant and repeated exposure to the
> chemical dust while mixing. Is a one-time exposure
> more hazardous than I realized?
Here's a real good example of how you can really scare yourself, if you
are ignorant enough.
There are a couple of glaze chemicals that can (not will- can) cause
adverse reactions in some people, but virtually all are very safe to
touch. Remember that most glaze chemicals are ground-up rocks or clay.
Would your director be afraid to touch a rock? How about sand? How
about 200-mesh sand? That would be about what most glaze materials are,
in essence.
Yes, breathing the dust is hazardous. But it's hazardous in the same
way that cigarette smoking is hazardous- with long, heavy, cumulative
use.
I hope you can educate your director before he or she panics and does
something as stupid as throwing perfectly good glaze chemicals into a
hazardous waste site.
Good luck,
Paul Lewing
Cindy Strnad on mon 23 apr 01
Geez, talk about an over-reaction.
Most of these chemicals are completely inert. That doesn't mean you want
them in your lungs, mind, but silica, kaolin, whiting, and feldspar
certainly do not need to be disposed of as toxic waste. I hope you don't
have the cobalt, manganese, copper, chromium, lithium, nickel, etc. stored
where any idiot can get to them. They can be dangerous, but as they're also
quite expensive, I'd think they'd be stored more carefully.
Of course, talking reason to a hysterical demagogue determined to show how
powerful she is may well be a losing battle. Possibly you might want to put
in a call to your local environmental department--or whatever government
office oversees the disposition of toxic waste in your area, and ask for an
official opinion on how best to get rid of that nasty, highly corrosive Frit
3134. (note scarcasm). Best of luck--I hope it works out for you.
Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
USA
earthenv@gwtc.net
http://www.earthenvesselssd.com
mel jacobson on mon 23 apr 01
from a clayarter.
Hi -- I use a pottery studio that's in a local
community center. Last week, a couple of young kids
(elem. aged) got into a bag of plaster (fortunately,
that's all they got into) that was stored near
the glaze chemicals.
My questions are: How toxic are glaze chemicals in
general? I don't have a list of what chemicals are
there (maybe 30 or 40 different chemcials), but the
glazes used by the studio are foodsafe, cone 6
glazes. When the rec center director caught the kids
touching the plaster, she decided to have ALL the
glaze chemicals thrown out. She's under the
impression that these chemicals are highly toxic and
are dangerous to touch (the director is for the rec
center, not for the studio and isn't involved with pottery at all).
I may be mistaken, but I didn't think
that they were THAT hazardous. ?? I know you need to
wear a mask while mixing glazes, but I thought it was
to prevent significant and repeated exposure to the
chemical dust while mixing. Is a one-time exposure
more hazardous than I realized?
Personally, I would prefer that the chemicals be moved
to a safer location (like a nearby room used for other
pottery materials that could be locked) rather than
having everything thrown out. Especially since once
the glazes we have currently mixed run out, we won't
have any more glazes other than what each person buys
pre-mixed on an individual basis. Or at least have
the center donate the materials to another facility
rather than have them thrown out. (They will be
disposed of as hazardous waste, not handled as regular
trash.)
Can anyone give me a basic idea on how dangerous glaze
chemicals are even though I can't tell you exactly
which chemicals are present?
THanks in advance.
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
Joseph Herbert on tue 24 apr 01
This seems like a case of extreme over-reaction.
In the first place, most higher fire glaze materials are powdered rocks.
Calling them that will help your cause. Dust is a problem and should be
addressed with masks, an isolated glaze mixing area, air flow, whatever.
Colorants, heavier metal oxides, can present some toxicity issues. With
normal care, mask, no smoking, cleanliness, there should be little danger.
In general, the danger from ceramic materials increases as solubility
increases. Barium carbonate is poisonous while barium sulfate is not
because of solubility. Other things that should not be present in a public
studio, like potassium chromate, seem to appear. These things are not part
of normal glaze recipes but the experimenter may try anything. This is
especially true in college situations where "cross contamination" for the
chemical supply room is easy.
However, having children unsupervised where they might ingest large amounts
of anything is inexcusable. Lots of places end up with drain cleaner under
the sink and that has nothing to do with pottery. I once found an opened,
aging pint of 95% H2O2 under a sink at college. I personally favor locking
up the children in this situation over materials, but that is just me.
The director of the facility that contains the studio has a problem. If
there are any people who can be construed as employees working with the
ceramic materials, it is the director's responsibility to provide the MSDS
for any material present in the work place upon request. If the director is
unaware of the characteristics of the ceramic materials, it is because of
their failure to follow statutory requirements. In fact, the studio
probably could not legally dispose of the materials until the MSDS were
present, because those documents help classify the material for disposal.
After the MSDS's are present, there is no reason to dispose of the material.
Is this something to ask Joseph Heller about?
The start of the solution is information first. Get or make an inventory of
the material present in the glaze area and get MSDS's off the web or from
suppliers (they are required to supply these, when asked). Once you are
facing the known, irrational activity becomes less likely but not
impossible.
Maintaining the glaze making capability of the studio is really worthwhile
because the alternative is bad looking glazes and even less control over
glaze content than exists now. If people can bring stuff in, some one will
bring STUFF in.
Good luck.
Joseph Herbert
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