Asbestos in Art Supplies
Although most asbestos related diseases develop as a result of occupational exposure to asbestos, we have had clients who have developed mesothelioma following exposure to asbestos used in arts and crafts. In 1980, the Center for Occupational Hazards, Inc., a non-profit group, submitted a report to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission outlining the uses of asbestos in art and craft supplies.
First, they noted that raw asbestos was still being sold by arts and crafts supply houses. The raw asbestos was used in children’s modeling compounds. In 1971-72 the New York City Board of Education purchased 250,000 pounds of paper mache modeling compounds that, upon analysis, was found to contain 50% chrysotile asbestos. This material came in dry form and was intended to be mixed with water to form a paste that could be used for hand modeling.
When the Board of education told the supplier that the material was unsafe, the supplier changed the formulation by substituting fibrous talc from the R.T. Vanderbilt deposit in Governeur, New York, which was itself contaminated with tremolite asbestos.
Asbestos gloves and mittens were commonly used in ceramics, enameling, metal casting, welding, glass blowing and other art forms requiring hot temperatures. Most major art supply catalogs listed these asbestos containing art materials.
Asbestos was used to make heat shield insulating pads for soldering in jewelry making. These heat shields were constructed of coiled asbestos tape. Asbestos cement board was used as a heat shield for soldering jewelry, and on the interior of ceramic kilns. The outside of some kilns was insulated with asbestos blankets or molded asbestos insulation.
Asbestos contaminated talcs were used in art, particularly in ceramics. The ceramic slip (the wet ceramic material poured into molds) commonly contained up to 50% talc. Talcs from R.T. Vanderbilt’s deposit in Governeur, as well as talcs mined in Death Valley California by Pfizer, DesertTalc division of Johns Manville, Cyprus Minerals, among others, contained tremolite asbestos.
Johns Manville’s own analysis of its Desertalc indicated that it contained up to 30% asbestos. Many ceramicists mixed their own slip using dry talc, resulting in substantial asbestos exposures. After removing the ceramics from molds prior to firing in a kiln, they would sand the seams from the molds, resulting in additional exposure.
Exposures to asbestos from arts and crafts should be considered by medical professionals when interviewing mesothelioma patients about the sources of their exposure. For mesothelioma lawyers representing clients with asbestos related cancers, these exposures may be important to securing valuable compensation.
