Shirley Cirio please ditch the latex, and opt for nitrile. So many ppl develop latex allergies just from exposing themselves to it, plus if a place others come into and you use latex and they are allergic you could be signing a death warrant.... just something to think on.

What protective eye wear do you recommend?

yes!!! This is something that I was never taught in school but I need to do! thanks Ben!

@@Jonthepotter I was taught about some, to be cautious of. One in particular was manganese, and we discussed a potter who had died from manganese poisoning. This was notable for me, as I used a manganese stain, on a project. I wore vinyl gloves, but turns out, the gloves leakes during the process... Clay dust was something I wasn't cautious enough about, for several years. I try and do a lot more now, in regards to low/ no dust clean up.

nope!

If it's wet enough it will. Clay, right out of thr bag, won't stick much to porous surfaces like wood, canvas, plaster or cement. You want to avoid super smooth, non-porous surfaces like plastic, metal or a sealed wood.

Second

I don't think this info is creating fear. I think it's welcome important safety information Jon is thoughtful and kind enough to share. There are govt regulations now in place because of shorter term exposures causing cancer and other serious ailments caused by this type of particle dust. Silicates are in concrete and clay and other building materials that people need to be aware of. Please don't minimize the actual risks and criticize those who are educating how to combat those real risks. This is important information that I personally needed and wanted to hear. I have read stories about ceramic students that got lung sickness after only a 4 year long exposure in a shared student studio from clay dust. Once the exposure is there you can't ever get it out of your lungs. There are also new regulations in place to keep workers from the same type of silicate dust. Such as concrete workers, and pipe fitters or anybody that has to cut concrete walls in buildings. It is said this is the new asbestos in regards to health risks to lungs and taking proper precautions is a good thing to keep those that work with this material safe. Education is key to keep us safe. I am very thankful that Jon posted this video for my personal education on safety and hope studio bosses and teachers watch this to get better educated to keep their students and patrons safe as well as private studio owners and potters. Thanks Jon!!!

@@haretyper4954 I found another study that did link working in an industrial pottery studio with increased lung cancer risk, but it was based on people working a lifetime before the 1960s in an industrial pottery studio, which would likely be 100 times worse a art pottery studio today and your best "safety device" would likely be a banana over your face. This life long exposure to extreme level of danger was found to increase lung cancer risk of 28%. To put that into context, a heavy smoker increases there risk of lung cancer over a non smoker by ~12,200%. We don't have any data on pre 1960 crystalline silica levels, but there have been studies of pottery class rooms in schools, they average 0.011 mg/m3 and the regulations state that 0.05 mg/m3 is where health concerns start. Also, the control, where it was tested on normal air, was 0.008 mg/m3, so the average school pottery class room only has slightly higher crystalline silica then normal air, and no real risk of crystalline silica based illness.

i feel like it’s more of a better safe than sorry kinda think

@@Loathomar thank you by the way for that information though, it's good to discuss and hear other perspectives. I am definitely hyper-sensitive when it comes to things that cause cancer after what I've seen, but even if clay dust/silicates didn't cause cancer, the dust particles are an issue regardless in creating or exacerbating asthma etc. Unfortunately also we live in a time where allergies are more common than ever so any type of dust can be problematic.

​ Hare Typer Ugh, one particular does cause an increase in cancer, Crystalline Silica. But outside of the mild increase in cancer risk for high amount of Crystalline Silica, the health risks for pottery are almost non existent. It is so rare that things like "white lung" or "Potter's rot" are a thing of the past in medical terms. The medical term for the issue is called silicosis, and in the modern world, pottery is not seen as a cause of any of the ~100 case of silicosis per year. Maybe, there are one or two case of silicosis linked to pottery per year, but you are still far far far more likely to die driving to a pottery studio then from one.