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toxicity of gold lustres and wax resist

updated mon 22 dec 03

 

John Rodgers on sat 20 dec 03


I have worked with pure gold dissolved in solvents. The solvents used
are pure poison. You don't breathe the fumes during application, nor do
you breath the fumes during firing.

I had a order once for 10 figurines to be clad in real gold - the pure
stuff. I ordered the gold from a company by the name of Johnson-Mathey
(as I best remember - it's been a long time ago). When the bottle
arrived, it had skulls and crossbones all over it. And the instructions
were explicit, especially that part about it's toxicity.

I applied it with an airbush, wore a respirator, and had a strong fan
running behind me. The work was down wind, as I didn't care to breath or
come in contact with this stuff. When it was fired, we set the kilns on
automatic, and had all personnel leave the building during the firing.

The gold turned out beautiful.

Regards,

John Rodgers
Chelsea, AL

Theresa Sandin on sat 20 dec 03


I talked about toxicity with my hubby before going to sleep last night,
and about ceramics materials in general. Two topics came up that left me
wondering. My suppliers don't really inform you anything special on
toxicity, just say you should be "extra careful" with everything.

Now, I have a small bottle of gold lustre. It is a black liquid. Hubby
says that the only thing that can be used as a solvent with gold is
cyanide, and that if I get in on my skin, I'm dead.

Could it be something other than cyanied in my gold bottle, or do they
actually sell cyanide without a special label???

I have an extra bottle of solvent for it. It smells like thinner or
something else that is quite strong smelling. Is this somehow cyanide
too!?

Something else that I noticed the other day was that my wax resist bottle
is labeled as toxic. It says to avoid contact, inhalation and ingestion.
Can cause fetal misdevelopment.
What is this? I have gotten this on my fingers several times. I don't
stand under the hood with the suction turned on full when I paint.
Inhalation, is that somehow some kind of fume that I don't notice, or
should I simply avoid getting the cream into my lungs?
Is this silicone? I have used bathroom whiteware silicone for my glass
work (black silicone, coloured glass makes church window effect) and had
it all over me, too. Found out later it's a carcinogen, or equal. Is this
what wax resist is?

Does anyone have advice on something more natural to use as wax resist?
I'd rather stay away from the candlewax + kerosene heated over open fire
that I know some use. Sounds like I'll burn the house down if I do that.

Edouard, Ron, all you guys who know so much about toxicity of oxides -
help me!

And merry christmas to you all! Stay safe!

Theresa

Susan Setley on sat 20 dec 03


In a message dated 12/20/03 9:46:31 AM, tessan@KAHLIN.NET writes:

<<

Something else that I noticed the other day was that my wax resist bottle

is labeled as toxic. It says to avoid contact, inhalation and ingestion.

Can cause fetal misdevelopment. >>


The problem is, they always overstate the dangers to avoid lawsuits, so we
often don't know what to believe. I doubt that getting some on your finger would
cause a fetal problem. You would probably have to inhale a LOT or eat it. Is
it dissolved with a solvent? People inhale solvents to get high. It's really
dumb and really dangerous but people do it.

I have a young friend who has a master's degree in biochemistry and is now in
medical school. He emailed me once a couple of years ago, laughing his side
off. He used distilled water and stopped to read the label. It warned him to

1) not get the distilled water in his eyes

and if he did to

flush his eyes with (you know what's coming, right?)

2) distilled water.

I don't know what we're supposed to do under such circumstances. Those
warning labels aren't there for us -- they're for lawyers -- defense lawyers.

Ditmar on sat 20 dec 03


Cyanide solutions are used to dissolve gold "metal". Water based and very
different from lustre for ceramics and glass.
Lustre is a solution in solvent, hence the strong smell, of an organic gold
compound....
gold "resinate" .( among others)

You won't die a lingering horrible death, (or even a fast one due to
cyanide..there's none in the bottle) from touching lustres.
If you're vapourizing any solvents / organics there's danger of exposure,
and it's just plain smart and safe to avoid the fumes. Hell, fumes from
overheated teflon pans and overheated cooking oil are toxic!!!
As far as the solvent bottle, if you were smelling a strong smell and it WAS
cyanide, you'd already be dead, a definite sign, even for the lay person.

Ditmar
----- Original Message -----
From: "Theresa Sandin"
To:
Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2003 5:29 AM
Subject: Toxicity of gold lustres and wax resist




Now, I have a small bottle of gold lustre. It is a black liquid. Hubby
says that the only thing that can be used as a solvent with gold is
cyanide, and that if I get in on my skin, I'm dead.

Could it be something other than cyanied in my gold bottle, or do they
actually sell cyanide without a special label???

I have an extra bottle of solvent for it. It smells like thinner or
something else that is quite strong smelling. Is this somehow cyanide
too!?