Concerns about the use of lead.
Questions and concerns about the use of lead seem to come up on a regular basis, especially for those that are pregnant. Safety is an important issue when using lead in stained glass because lead is a powerful neurotoxin that can damage the nervous system and affect the brain and cause blood disorders.
The thing that we stress in our studio is that there should be no open food while working on your project. When you’ve decided to take a break you need to make sure you are washing your hands thoroughly. Not having open food is not just because of the lead, but also because of the glass shards and dust that gets kicked up while you are working on your project. In regards to lead, leads leading way of entering your body is hand to mouth ingestion. That hand to mouth ingestion can be as simple as an inadvertent wiping of your moth with a contaminated hand. Lead is not absorbed through your skin; in actuality your skin is a wonderful barrier for many things, it’s your first line of defense.
When you are done working on your project or are deciding its time to take a break and eat you need to wash your hands well! I like to use soap and a small scrub brush when I’m done and ready to EAT! This should be enough to protect you from contamination. If you have small cuts on your hands or are just concerned you can always use surgical gloves to protect your hands while you are working on your project. There have been several times that I have used gloves because of open cuts on my hands.
If you’re pregnant we always suggest that you ask your doctor about doing this art to see what they may say. Sometimes it is better to error on the cautious side and just abstain from stained glass work until your pregnancy is over, but that does not excuse you from coming by and visiting with us! You can always just sit on the side and eat our cookies while we can’t!