Address:
Glafo, Box 5157,
SE-350 05 Växjö
SWEDEN

Visitor's address:
Vejdes plats 3

Tel: +46 10 516 63 50
E-mail: info@glafo.se

You find a map at the
"about Glafo" page.

CRAFT - ”Evaluation of the biosafety of lead substitutes used in the manufacture of unleaded crystal” (PR 607) - finished project 1999

EC contract BRST-CT97-5122

Glafo and other orgainsations has during the 1990th worked with the substitution of lead in lead crystal glass. When trying to judge the potential risks of substitutes there has been very few published works on this subject.

This CRAFT project has addressed the consumer, worker and environmental safety implications of the use of crystal glass (without added lead).

The CRAFT partnership comprised of five SME crystal glass-producing companies from four European nations led by Royal Brierley Crystal (UK) and Galway Irish Crystal (Ireland) - the others being: Nybro Glasbruk (Sweden), Hadeland Glassverk (Norway), Dartington Crystal (UK).

Also included was a UK manufacturer of ceramic glazes: James Kent and a large company Orrefors Kosta-Boda (Sweden).

Middlesex University (UK) led the team that undertook the research. The other members of the team were: the National University of Ireland, Galway (Ireland), British Ceramics Research Ltd - CERAM (UK), Glafo, Glasforskningsinstitutet (Sweden).

The following technical areas have been examined within the project:

- Leaching of metals from crystal glass products
- Likely consumer metal intakes resulting from the use of unleaded products
- Solubility of inhaled crystal glass powders
- Retention and behaviour of bismuth in the body
- Size distribution and composition of industrial aerosols within the factory environment
- Worker bioassay methods for crystal glass components
- Suitability of unleaded crystal glasses under landfill conditions

CURRENT PROJECTS