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How Much Granular Manganese Dioxide?


Foxden

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Guest JBaymore

SydneeGee,

 

Unfortunately you are asking questions for which there ARE no totally simple answers.  First of all the term "food safe" has no actual legal meaning in the USA as far as a formal "standard" is concerned.  Second of all, such studies are only done when there is a significant enough "money base" that the funding for the studies is available. In the case of what you are asking for.... no available hard data.

 

We know about the inhalation risks of manganese because of the mining and metal industry uses.  Occupational health studies on a large pool of workers, and the funding is there because of the cost of potential Worker's Compensation claims to the employers.

 

The ONLY way to know if YOUR wares are "safe" is to have regular representative samples lab tested for whatever you are questioning.  Then you have to define for yourself what that term "safe" means (unless you are talking lead compounds or cadmium compounds).  No other material is monitored or controlled in ceramic wares in the USA. 

 

Some folks use the US EPA Drinking Water Standards as a guideline in assessing acceptable leacing of various compounds.  But that standard assumes that you will be consuming a LOT of liquid per day from the vessel in question.  Your whole days' water intake.  Every day of the year.  So those standards have a HUGE level of "overkill".

 

And even if you test..... you have to make sure that you do not change things... which would potentially change the results.  Use a different clay body under the glaze..... potential change.  Different glaze with the same clay body ......potential change.  Firing a half cone off....... potential change.  Atmosphere during firing different.....potential change.  Glaze application thickness different....potential change.  And so on.

 

Industry has tight controls on a lot of the variables that studio potters do not.  They can keep things pretty constant.  Easier for them to make sure the product is the same form one run to the next.

 

Search (from the MAIN page) terms that relate to this topic in general.  There are LOTS of discussion about this kind of subject, with a lot of useful information.

 

best,

 

........................john

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Thank you JB. I am finding more and more as I go along it is an "it depends" situation. It's funny that we get so concerned with food safety materials when WE are the creators, who knows what is in the foodware, pots/pans, and other surfaces we use on a daily basis? :rolleyes: All we can do is do the best to use the safest materials we can for our own healthy, and those of our family and customers.

 

After reading more I actually did find the answers to my questions in the http://community.cer...ganese-dioxide/ discussion thanks to GiselleNo5. I guess only years of experience and a technical knowledge of the raw materials will sate my hunger for what makes what "food safe" and why.

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