I recently met a glass artist who had started out in bronze and moved into glass casting. She had been studying for a few years at a University prior to when she got sick. There they had several types of arts and shops. When they tested her, her lead levels were off the charts and now that she recovered she has been researching metal poisoning and hoping to write a book. She just mentioned how are bodies are like sponges and just walking through the shops your body just absorbs the metals around it until they can not absorb anymore. She also mentioned that there are simple things you can do like eating lots of Cilantro in your diet which flushed the metals out naturally. I am hoping she does write the book because a few preventive things could make such a difference in someones life and the fact that now she is OK but never can fully return to glass is horrible. I just thought it was an interesting subject I do not know a lot about and really have not paid a lot of attention to and thought maybe some of you may have.
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Thanks for the post. I will deffinately keep an eye out for her book. This has been a big concern for me for a while, with not much info comming up. I have found a little information about it, but it is general and I dont feel satisfied with my knowledge about it. Heavy metal poisoning is a serious risk for glass artists that use any color in their work. I heared that cilantro as well as basil is good to use as a binder for the metals to attach to and flush out. I eat about a pint of pesto a week and I think it helps. I feel beter now than before I ate so much pesto. Could be the garlic too.... yum
WOW I am glad to read this. Jeremy you said the colored glass affects a person too? Is there lead in the colors?
thank you
catherine
I dont think there is much lead in the colors, but there are many other things like, cobalt, copper, silver, gold cadmium and other metals. This is how the glass gets its color. And when the glass is heated in a flame it may emit vapors of these components. That is why ventilation is very important. I am not much into the chem of the glass, so I dont have alot of input but, I think it is something that should be taken more seriously than it tends to. There are some glas artists that are very cautious where they are scared and avoid a lot of things, and then there are glass artists that dont pay any attention to it at all and just have fun create and so on. I'd like to try to find a balance where I know what I am dealing with and how to maintain a healthy, happy and confident exposure to my medium.
Great information. I was advised to ensure that I wear a mask while engraving on glass, as the fine dust that flies around while engraving , is very harmful if inhaled. This would be even more true for high lead crystal glass. I have worked on only two pieces of crystal glass till now, but have been working with normal window glass and extra clear glass. I have now promised myself NEVER TO FORGET WEARING A MASK WHILE ENGRAVING ON GLASS.
Thank you all.
Vijay