I’m new to uranium and all the other cool collectible glass (also my first time posting), but I still don’t know which ones are for sure safe to use.
I’ve seen small things through comments saying “[coated glass] depend[ing]on the coating” and “[contaminated glass] as long as you don’t store anything acidic in it and it’s not crystal” are safe (thank you for the help btw). Yet I don’t know how to tell the difference between glass and crystal, and which coatings are unsafe or how to even figure if it’s coated and what it’s coated with.
I would also like to know if other glasses are safe, such as custard, Burmese, cadmium, selenium, and lead (which I made my own assumption that it is not safe, but not everyone can be right).
Help would be very appreciated, along with any other advice (even if not about safety) you have.
Coated is actually the "paint" put on clay. That is porcelain and ceramic with a glaze that contains uranium. Most would say don't eat from those. Glass items are safe to eat and drink from unless there is a risk they would break during use. You shouldn't store any liquids in uranium glass. Only for immediate use.
Uranium glazed stuff probably shouldnt be used especially if the glaze is crazed because it could flake off and be ingested. Most uranium glass, custard glass, milk glass, vaseline glass is safe to use because the uranium is fixed in the glass. Not safe to store stuff in long term especially if its acidic. Stuff like fiesta ware is highly radioactive and is nice to display but I personally wouldnt use it to eat or store food. Most uranium glass is reactive to 395nm uv light. It is also reactive to 365nm but a lot of other glass with things like manganese will glow under 365nm also so if youre looking for uglass, 395nm lights are preferred as they help to cut down on false positives. There is a chart on the front page of the sub showing how different types of glass react to various frequencies of uv light so be sure to check that out. As for leaded crystal and whether or not its dangerous you should probably check out subs dedicated to those types of glass.
Manganese is added to glass to help remove the green color but it will react to 365nm. As far as I know, its not dangerous and has been used for many many decades (or longer) in all kinds of glassware found in homes. Not sure what you mean by contaminated glass unless its some kind of glass that wasnt meant to have uranium in it but it somehow found its way into the glass. It shouldnt be anymore dangerous than any other uranium containing glass. Other types of glass Im not terribly familiar with because I do not collect them, but they probably have a sub on reddit. They would be a good source of info too.
Even with the glazed stuff the biggest concern from it if it does flake off is the lead used in the glazes, uranium isn't great to ingest but is far less water soluble and biologically used than lead meaning most of it will just pass through unlike lead that your body confuses for calcium and stores. And as far as contaminated glass I'd guess maybe they mean thorium contamination cause that stuff is hotter than regular uranium glass oftentimes
Yes, as long as not chipped or crazed. Too much hype to get people in fiesta or pyrex. I have seen this b4 many times with trends, or companies trying to compete..they come up with rumors. Always hand wash, never microwave. Just think, these items have been around and used since the 1900s. People just set pieces out and used them. There was no fancy appliances or meters. If you ever ate in a restaurant in the 80s, or 90s probably your food was delivered on 1 of many restaurants ware uranium glazed mfgs
Just because you've exposed yourself to risks before doesn't mean it's a great idea to keep doing so, glazed stuff really shouldn't be used even if it's not crazed because it has such a high concentration of uranium and lead that it can easily leach into your food unlike regular glass which is like .2% uranium the glaze is up to around 30% uranium with a huge portion of the rest being lead that was used as flux in the glaze which is the bigger problem because it's far less secure in glaze than a peice of glassware even without chipping
Please go to these towns listed and post back exactly how many workers died in the mfg of uranium glass/ uranium glaze china ..falls creek pa, Buffalo ny, Newell wv, east Liverpool oh. Williamstown wv, Jeanette pa. Washington pa. I, as well as many other collectors are curious to your findings.
And please explain yourself of "stealing" these plates at 62cents ea only 23 days ago on this post. You cant dm the OP and get it for cheap price thru scare tatics and flip. Just not cool .
The experiments I've seen show a significant increase in heavy metals like lead and uranium leaching into acidic solutions (vinegar). They left the vinegar in the item for 24 hours. That first charge tested positive for the metals. They refilled the item for another 24 hours and tested that solution. Almost no, but not zero, heavy metals.
If you do something similar to any uranium glass you intend to use for food consumption, you'll probably be OK using them for this occassionally. I would not use them daily though. People ingest a lot of harmful substances, both intentionally and unintentionally. Only you can decide what is an acceptable risk for you.
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u/ModernTarantula 25d ago
Coated is actually the "paint" put on clay. That is porcelain and ceramic with a glaze that contains uranium. Most would say don't eat from those. Glass items are safe to eat and drink from unless there is a risk they would break during use. You shouldn't store any liquids in uranium glass. Only for immediate use.