Manchester Memoirs, Vol. xlv. (1900), No. 1. 



I. Plumbism in Pottery Workers. 



By William Burton, F.C.S. 



Received November loth. Read October 2nd, igoo. 



It is a truism to say that plumbism occurs among 

 pottery workers because lead compounds are used in the 

 manufacture of pottery. It becomes necessary, therefore, 

 to explain, how and why lead compounds are so used, 

 and to enquire as to the possibility of dispensing with 

 their use entirely, or, in the alternative, reducing by every 

 known means the risks run by the workers in handling 



them. 



Lead compounds are used, and have long been used, 



in the manufacture of pottery, for three distinct purposes. 



First: As a very important constituent of the glaze or 



glass with which most pottery is coated. 

 Second : As an important constituent of the flux, or 

 binding material, by which on-the-glaze colours 

 are attached to the surface of the previously 

 fused glaze. 

 Third : As actual colouring matters in the form of 

 pigments such as Naples Yellow, which is a 

 crude antimoniate of lead. 

 The third group covers such a small number of 

 substances that it will only be necessary now to direct 

 attention to the use of lead compounds in glazes and in 

 the fluxes of on-the-glaze (enamel) colours. 



In dealing with the use of lead compounds in glazes, 

 it would be well to mention the different kinds of glazed 

 pottery that are largely made. All glazed pottery is 



March nth, igoi. 



