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    • About
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    • KILN-FORMED GLASS
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GENERAL INFORMATION

Glass Artists use a variety of chemicals and materials that can be harmful. Always know the toxicity of chemicals and materials you are working with and how to protect yourself.

SAFETY DATA SHEETS

Best source of information about a chemical is the SDS:

  • Safety Data Sheet (also known as Material Safety Data Sheets)
  • Must be provided by the manufacturer
  • Not all SDSs are of good quality! Look for SDSs from major manufacturers. Make sure they are recent (<5 years).
  • Manufacturer’s in most countries are required to provide a SDS with their products or provide one upon request. 

A SDS will provide you with information about the product:

  • Hazardous Ingredients
  • Physical & Chemical Data
  • Fire/Explosion
  • Health Hazard Data
  • Route of Exposure
  • Exposure Control
  • Personal Protective Equipment 

 

Where to find SDSs on the Internet:

  • Check the chemical manufacturer’s website
  • Google the chemical name and/or manufacturer

A SDS will provide you with information about the product:

  • Hazardous Ingredients
  • Physical & Chemical Data
  • Fire/Explosion
  • Health Hazard Data
  • Route of Exposure
  • Exposure Control
  • Personal Protective Equipment 

You need to understand the potential effects of the chemical:

Acute:

  • Reaction is immediate
  • Example – Acetone defats the skin (dries the skin), arsenic can poison you


Chronic:

  • Reaction is cumulative and can take years to be seen
  • Example – lung disease from breathing refractory fibers, neurologic disorders from lead exposure


Possible routes of exposure:

  • Inhalation (most common)
  • Dermal (skin) Contact
  • Ingestion 

There are exposure limits for many chemicals:

OELs – Occupation Exposure Limits:

  • Developed  by OSHA (PEL – Personal Exposure Limit), ACGIH (TLV – Threshold Limit  Value), and international agencies. TLVs are considered to be the most up-to-date.
  • These exposure limits are based upon an 8-hour Time Weighted Average (TWA) exposure limit that should NOT be exceed during an 8-hour period.


STELs/Ceilings:

  • Short Term Exposure Limits are used for acutely toxic or irritating chemicals 
  • A STEL is usually a 15 minute exposure
  • A Ceiling is an exposure limit NEVER TO BE EXCEEDED

Time Weighted Average (TWA) example:

Rarely is exposure consistent throughout the day. Let’s say you are working in your studio for 8 hours grinding glass and exposure varies throughout the day. The graph shows times of high exposure and low exposure. There are even two times that the exposure was higher than the OEL. The exposures throughout the day are averaged and the Time Weighted Average is determined. 


For this example the OEL = 10 mg/m3 and the Time Weighted Average – 3.2 mg/m3, so actual exposure is below OEL. 

RULE OF THUMB:

The LOWER the OEL, the MORE toxic the material. 


The HIGHER the OEL, the LESS toxic the material.


Example: Lead has an OEL of 0.05 mg/m3 (very toxic) while Nuisance Dust has an OEL of 10 mg/m3 (less toxic).

How Do You Make Decisions About Exposure?

How toxic is the material?

A TLV® (Threshold Limit Value) is defined as a guideline designed for use by industrial hygienists in making decisions regarding safe levels of exposure to various chemical substances and physical agents found in the workplace. TLVs® are health-based values established by scientists that review existing published and peer-reviewed literature in various scientific disciplines (e.g., industrial hygiene, toxicology, occupational medicine, and epidemiology) to make a decision. TLVs® are  published by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH).

What is the toxic action of the material?

Toxic fibers, chemicals and metals have different reactions:

  • Immunological effects (Beryllium can cause Chronic Beryllium Disease)
  • Specific organ effects (Coal Tar Pitch can cause Bladder Cancer, Benzene can cause Leukemia)
  • Fibrosis of the lungs/lung cancer (Asbestos, Refractory Ceramic Fibers – RCF)
  • Neurological (Lead)
  • Some have multiple reactions

What is the route of exposure?

  • You can inhale dusts (respiratory)
  • you can be exposed to some chemicals through the skin (dermal)
  • you can ingest toxic materials (example, not observing good hygiene when working with lead)

Other things to consider:

  • Does the exposure material contain high or low levels of toxic material?
  • What is the material’s bioavailability?
  • Is the toxic material bound to other materials making bioavailability low?
  • What is the exposure level?
  • Depending upon what you are doing and how you are doing it, exposure levels are variable. 

Understanding Exposure:

In reality, unless you are doing:

  • High-volume production work that exposes you to a health hazard all day long
  • You are exposing yourself to high levels of a health hazard for a brief time
  • You are working with a very toxic material (which you should not be doing!)
  • You are not working responsibly


You are not really at risk for an unacceptable exposure when working in a glass studio.

How do you determine if a material is toxic?

Epidemiology studies: Study the past/future effects of exposures on humans. This is the best indication of toxicology.


Animal Studies: Exposure  lab animal to a material under controlled circumstances. Fair to good  indication of toxicology depending upon the test methodology. LD50 (ingested lethal dose, 50% population), LC50 (inhaled lethal  concentration, 50% population).


Petri Dish Studies: Determine possible chemical mutagenicity in bacteria. Starting point that indicates further investigation is needed. 

How reliable is toxicity data?

Depends upon the results of the study:

  • Is it “Good Science”?
  • Is the study based on epidemiology with an appropriately sized test population?
  • Are confounding factors considered?
  • Science can change over time as more is learned. Do not be surprised as scientific opinions may change or be refined over time. 

Relative Risk:

Probability of outcome. Relative risk is simply the ratio of the two conditional probabilities. A relative risk equal to 1 implies that the the event is equally probable in both groups. A relative risk greater than 1 implies that the event is more likely in the first group. A relative risk less than 1 implies that the event is less likely in the first group. The bottom line: the higher the Relative Risk, the more dangerous the exposure.

Controlling Exposure:

Substitution (best method):

  • Replace toxic with less toxic or eliminate exposure


Engineering Controls:

  • Ventilate the area – fans, point source ventilation
  • Wet Methods to control dust


Personal Protective Equipment:

  • Respirators, ear plugs, gloves, protective clothing


Administrative Controls (worse method): 

  • Spread the exposure out over time
  • Employee rotation

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