_Manufacture of stove tiles._—The application of glaze to stove tiles is
done in different ways. The two most important kinds are (1) fired tiles
and (2) slipped tiles. In the production of fired tiles a lead-tin alloy
consisting of 100 parts lead and 30-36 parts tin—so-called ‘calcine’—are
melted together in fireclay reverberatory or muffle furnaces and raked
about when at a dull red heat so as to effect complete oxidation. The
material when cool is mixed with the same quantity of sand and some
salt, melted in the frit kiln, subsequently crushed, ground, mixed with
water, and applied to the previously fired tiles. In this process risk
is considerable. Presence of lead in the air has been demonstrated even
in well-appointed ‘calcine’ rooms. In unsuitably arranged rooms it was
estimated that in a twelve-hour day a worker would inhale 0·6 gramme of
lead oxide and that 3-8 grammes would collect on the clothes.
_Slipped tiles_ are made in Meissen, Silesia, Bavaria, and Austria by
first applying to them a mixture of clay and china clay. The glaze
applied is very rich in lead, containing 50-60 parts of red lead or
litharge. Generally the glaze is applied direct to the unfired tiles
and fired once. Figures as to occurrence of poisoning in Germany are
quoted by Kaup from the towns of Velten and Meissen. Among from 1748 to
2500 persons employed thirty-four cases were reported in the five years
1901-5. Thirteen cases were reported as occurring in the three largest
factories in Meissen in 1906.
From other districts similar occurrence of poisoning is reported. In
Bohemia in a single factory in 1906 there were fourteen cases with one
death, in another in 1907 there were fourteen, and in 1908 twelve cases;
eight further cases occurred among majolica painters in 1908.
_Stoneware and porcelain._—Hard stoneware on a base of clay, limestone,
and felspar has usually a transparent lead glaze of double earth
silicates of lead and alkalis, with generally boric acid to lower the
fusing-point; the lead is nearly always added in the form of red lead
or litharge. The portion of the glaze soluble in water is fritted, and
forms, when mixed with the insoluble portion, the glaze ready for use.
The frit according to Kaup contains from 16 to 18 per cent. of red lead,
and the added material (the mill mixing) 8-26 parts of white lead; the
glaze contains from 13 to 28 parts of lead oxide. The ware is dipped or
the glaze is sometimes aerographed on. Ware-cleaning by hand (smoothing
or levelling the surface with brushes, knives, &c.) is very dangerous
work unless carried out under an efficient exhaust. Colouring the body
itself is done with coloured metal oxides or by applying clay (slipping)
or by the direct application of colours either under or over the glaze.
Some of the under-glaze colours (by addition of chrome yellow or nitrate
of lead or red lead) contain lead and are applied with the brush or
aerograph or in the form of transfers.
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