Q - pregnancy and fused glass - precautions

[kwills]

hi - i'm pretty new to fusing, and have some health concerns, especially since my husband and i are going to start trying to have a baby soon. is there anything i should avoid while doing glass work, or are there any special precautions i should be taking? any information on this would be great. thanks!

[Tony Smith]

Probably your biggest concern will be that fusing glass prevents pregnancy... Late nights setting up firings, early mornings getting pieces ready for the next firing... that sort of thing.

Seriously, your main concerns will be knowing what is in your oversprays and enamels (some contain lead) and not using them or exercising extreme caution if they do contain lead. Otherwise, wear a good dust mask when working with any powders, grinding glass or when sandblasting. Don't eat or drink around glass powders, enamels or oversprays, or anywhere where residue may come in contact with your food or glass, can, etc..

Good luck,

Tony

[Bev Brandt]

I imagine you can do cutting, glueing, grinding and sawing all you want using normal precautions such as a dust mask. If you job out your firing - you'll be fine. If your kiln is in another building, you'll be fine. If you live with your kiln...eh...I don't know about that. Perhaps others have better answers. If it were me, I'd not fire a kiln in my home while pregnant or trying to conceive. Also avoid strong chemicals like solvents.

Having said that, I took my first lampworking class while pregnant. My daughter - who is now almost 5 - is fine and is so well-behaved that I can take her to glass suppliers and studios without incident. Was it the class? Maybe...

And I was stripping lead-based paint with solvents and a heat gun the first 6 weeks of pregnancy with my first. (I didn't know I was pregnant.) And he's fine...no, scratch that. He's a 7-year old boy. He's definitely not "fine," but that's how 7-year-olds are.

I know of a glass blower who stopped working while she was pregnant - that one is probably more obvious than a warm glass worker. Stained glass workers are advised to stop soldering while pregnant - I work in stained glass and I did not solder though I did a lot of cutting and set up whilst gravis with my third.

I'm not a paranoid person and I did some things while I was pregnant that would shock and amaze people (like drinking coffee!) But I do think that common sense should prevail. If you're in doubt, stop and go draw up a new design that you'll work on after you've had your baby.

Bev

[Greg Rawls]

Lead is an obvious material to avoid. For other chemicals used, check the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet). The words you are looking for teratogen (chemical that causes birth defects), mutagen (chemical that causes mutation in DNA) and embryo toxic.