Lead crystal & coloured glass
Much has been said about safety of using & lampworking lead crystal, but many of the metal oxides used to colour glass are just as poisonous as the lead. In solid glass, the lead & other heavy metals are strongly bonded in the glass matrix (the only real problem is with long time storage of alcohol in decanters & possibly food in coloured or lead glass & the heavy metals leaching out – there is no health problem in using these containers for short periods, ie 1 day).
Note: crystal glasses & decanters can now be made with no lead in them.
When flame working coloured glass or lead crystal, you must have a good exhaust system to protect the lampworker.
A very serious health problem is what happens to the exhaust gases (I live in the country & don’t have water supplied to my area, so I collect rain water off the roof, my exhaust doesn’t go through the roof, it goes out through the wall). If I had young children, I would not let them play near the exhaust.
Note: one of my degrees is analytical / industrial chemist, years ago I worked for (Vic, Australia) EPA (Environment Protection Authority), back then & probably still is, a requirement to register the exhaust from commercial glass works & also have the exhaust gases tested for heavy metals, etc.
Peter
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