Welcome to Ceramics Tips

Cadmium

Cadmium
Used as a pigment in glazes. Can cause respiratory
diseases, osteoporosis, cancer and other problems.
For more information, see Article on Cadmium!

Keep your people safe

Keep your people safe
Keep hazardous material under supervision and away from children and untrained personnel. Always keep hazardous and toxic materials in their appropriate workspace. Do not move them into a situation that would allow them to become a hazard.

Gum Arabic

Gum Arabic
may cause asthma and eye inflammations.

Kaolin also see silica

Kaolin
similar to silica.

Toxic Material list

Toxic Elements
Silica: Sources- Quartz flint, frits, feldspars clays and glazes
Vanadium: Sources- vanadium pentoxide and ceramic colours.
Cadmium and selenium: Sources- ceramic colours and glazes
Lead: Sources-Lead oxide, frits and glazes
Chromium: Sources- Chrome oxide and some ceramic colours( greens)
Copper: Sources- copper oxide, carbonate and some ceramic colours
Zinc: Sources- zinc oxide, some ceramic colours
Borax: Sources- borax frits

Eyes

Wear welding goggles when looking into a
glowing kiln, otherwise eye cataracts will develop
over the years.

Gas kiln ignition

Never ignite a gas kiln without opening the door a
short way first. Accumulated gas can ignite and
explode. Opening the door allows igniting gas to
escape.

Handling Toxic Materials

Hands should be washed immediately and
thoroughly after handling glaze materials and any
other toxic minerals.

Asbestos

Asbestos: causes particularly nasty fibrosis if inhaled.

Asbestos

Asbestos is calcium magnesium silicate. Since the danger of asbestosis has been recognised (silicosis), asbestos has been completely phased out and replaced by ceramic fibre. Old kilns might still have asbestos as door seals and electric element tail packing.

Health and safety data sheets

Health and safety data sheets.
When purchasing ceramic material, request individual health and safety data sheets. These will enable you to assess any risk and apply any control measures that may be needed.

Footwear

Open footwear, eg. sandals, etc, are inadequate.
Full protection is needed for your feet.

Raku OH&S: Sawdust

Raku OH&S: Sawdust
Always dampen the sawdust to prevent excessive flame and lessen the risk of airborne burning particles.

Potassium

Potassium,Dichromate/Bichromate
is very poisonous. Can cause kidney failure and is
cancerous. Not recommended for tableware!

Toxic materials

What materials are toxic?
The two materials that are proven toxic at this time are lead and cadmium. Lead is used to make glazes flow better at low temperatures. Cadmium is used primarily to create bright orange and red colors. There are other materials which may be toxic, but there is not enough evidence that they are unsafe at this time, so they are not regulated. Many of these materials are safe in low doses (for example, nickel, barium, selenium and cobalt), but toxic in high doses. So reducing leaching as much as possible is always a good idea.

Dust

Dusts in all forms in the studio should be avoided. They accumulate over the years and cause emphysema, not a nice disease to have. Take special care with silica.

Raku OH&S: water plunging

Raku OH&S: water plunging
Don't drop enclosed or narrow-necked forms abruptly into water, they will explode.

Floors

Floors should be kept clean. Clean up spilt clay,
slip and water and other materials immediately.

Nickel Oxide

Nickel Oxide
can cause cancer. Will cause skin irritation (´nickel
itch´). Will penetrate skin.