Should this concern us?

[ALIEN!]

Promotional drinking glasses recalled due to paint containing cadmium.



http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mcd...k=MW_news_stmp

[SNYD]

Only if you have a shelf full of the glasses and you eat every meal at mcdonalds.

[berning]

as far as cadmium colors in glass ? i don't think it should be a concern. the cadmium we use is in the glass,. as opposed to the glasses you're talking about,the cadmium is on the surface.
last weekend it was brought to my attention that copper can kill marine invertabrates , and some colors have copper in them. that concerned me because i've been selling aquarium decorations and have been assuring people it would be safe for their tank. just happens that paul truatman was standing in my line of sight , so i asked him about copper in glass. he explained that the chemicals are bound inside the glass and pose no health risk to the fish .

[byron3]

In the case of the Shrek-themed glassware, the potential danger would be long-term exposure to low levels of cadmium, which could leach from the paint onto a child's hand, then enter the body if the child puts that unwashed hand to his or her mouth.

A quote from what Sparkey posted in this thread :
http://www.talkglass.com/forum/showt...ewpost&t=32860

[puddletown]

what you really have to worry about is cadmium in kids toys.

gotta love china!!!

[Greymatter Glass]

On of the biggest industrial use of cadmium I know of is in road paint. All those yellow stripes, almost pure cadmium.

That and batteries. the Cad in NiCad is Cadmium.

Don't eat batteries.

[Mecha]

Don't eat batteries.

****munch, munch, munch****

Wait, what?

[Sparkey]

gotta love china!!!

Made in America

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_600741.html

The New Jersey company that makes the "Shrek"-themed drinking glasses recalled by McDonald's because they contain cadmium says it only learned of the problem late Thursday and is looking into it.

Tom Reed, vice president of human resources at Arc International's plant in Millville, says the company received a copy of a McDonald's memo on the recall of 12 million glasses but has not heard anything else.

[kbinkster]

If glass containing cadmium is exposed to acid, the cadmium can leach out.

This is an abstract of an article about cadmium (and other heavy metals) leaching out of glass dinnerware.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18472562

Heavy metals like lead and cadmium were found to leach out from food contact surface of opal glass dinnerware when treated with five food acids as a leaching solution. The leachates used were: acetic acid, tartaric acid, citric acid, lactic acid and ascorbic acid at three different concentrations 2%, 4%, and 8% (v/v). At room temperature, duration of leaching varied from 1h to 24h in each case. The amount of metals leached in individual acid was found to be maximum at the 4% acid concentration. Release of Pb and Cd was faster in first 2h leaching period. Maximum amount of Pb and Cd were leached in 4% acetic acid at room temperature.

The acids in the study were only food-grade acids (acetic acid, tartaric acid, citric acid, lactic acid, and ascorbic acid) and were used to show what leached out when the glass was in contact with food.

The dinnerware was most likely soft glass. So, if you are working with soft glass, then keep that in mind.

Clear borosilcate is more impervious to acid than soft glass, but I don't know about colored borosilicate and if the cadmium would leach out when exposed to acids that normally don't affect boro. Boro is not, however, resistent to hydrofluoric acid or hot phosphoric acid. Phosphoric acid (E338 - orthophosphoric acid) is used in some colas to add that tangy zip.

So, to be super safe, I would not drink any hot cola (yuck) out of a goblet made with cadmium color.

Ironically, phosphoric acid found in colas can hurt your bones and kidneys - which is also the big concern about cadmium. So, it doesn't matter what your drinkware is made of, you're screwed if you drink a lot of sodas, anyway. Cadmium is probably a lot worse for you, though, since it is a heavy metal.

[PyroChixRock]

Kim you are always so helpful. Thanks babe. repped

[SoberstoneGlass]

this is one of the reasons i clear coat all my body jewelry.

[newmexicomagma]

dont know a whole lot about this but as far as i remember the cadmium isnt released from the glass until it reaches a certain temp. but i just use the stuff.

[kbinkster]

What I am talking about is cadmium leaching out of the glass matrix of a finished product. Yes, if you heat up a rod of glass that uses cadmium (and any other metal) as a colorant, some metal is going to be released. That's a big reason why you should have good ventilation when working glass.

But, many people believe that when the glass is just sitting there in rod form or already made up into a finished piece, then there is nothing to worry about. Just holding a rod of color or a finished piece isn't going to transmit the cadmium to you. But, there is something to worry about under the right (wrong) conditions. These metals like lead and cadmium can leach out of the glass when the glass is in contact with acids. This is of particular concern when those acids are from food or drink you use the glass piece to hold/deliver.

I would even worry about fumes released from the process of acid etching, if there are any.

[kbinkster]

this is one of the reasons i clear coat all my body jewelry.

I think that's smart. I think it would be a good idea to clear coat anything that would come into contact with food, too.