48 lines
2.2 KiB
Plaintext
48 lines
2.2 KiB
Plaintext
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Taken from KeelyNet BBS (214) 324-3501
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Sponsored by Vangard Sciences
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PO BOX 1031
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Mesquite, Tx. 75150
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TEST YOUR CERAMICWARE FOR LEAD
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Lead can leach form ceramicware and be ingested with food or
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drink prepared or served in it. Children are especially
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susceptible and pregnant women are at high risk.
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A child may absorb as much as 50 percent of the lead
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introduced into the gastrointestinal tract. Adults can absorb up
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to 10 percent.
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Symptoms of lead poisoning often mask those of other
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illnesses. They include headache, abdominal pain, irritability,
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weakness, discomfort and paleness. With increasing exposure, the
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brain swells and often hemorrhages, which can induce convulsion or
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coma.
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Foreign-made ceramicware is especially suspect. Makers of
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ceramicware use lead to create bright surface colors. If the
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application is done incorrectly it is not impermeable and will
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leach out into food or drink. Liquid acidic foods are the ones
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most likely to case the leaching. These include tomatoes, orange
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or apple juice, wine, coffee, and foods containing vinegar.
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You can convert any suspect ceramicware into strictly
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decorative pieces, have your ceramicware tested commercially or
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purchase a kit to test it yourself. One source of such a kit is:
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Frandon Enterprises Inc., Box 300312, Seattle 98103.
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(206) 633-2341. To test a ceramic piece with a kit:
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* Pour household vinegar into each piece of ceramicware and
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let it stand for 24 hours.
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* Pour the liquid that has been standing into a plastic
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container and add a drop or two of the test solution that comes
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with the kit.
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If lead has leached from your test piece, the solution will
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turn anywhere from yellow to dark brown or black. The darker the
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solution the higher the lead content.
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Submitted by; Ronald Barker
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Vangard Sciences |