hot coffee

May 26, 2012 3:34 AM

does this mug have uranium glaze?
posted by compound eye to grab bag (10 answers total)

Probably not; the wikipedia article says they quit using it before WWII, and that mug purports to be from the 1970s.
posted by gjc at 4:13 AM on May 26, 2012

But unfortunately it mentions that they started again after the war:

Homer Laughlin stopped all use of depleted uranium oxide in 1972

posted by compound eye at 4:20 AM on May 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

Holme Gaard is a glass works, so it's more likely to be solid glass than glazed.
posted by scruss at 4:35 AM on May 26, 2012

but does that mean that they wouldn't use the same pigments?
i know v.little about the process of glass making
posted by compound eye at 4:43 AM on May 26, 2012

wikipedia also has info about uranium glass

doesn't seem to be orange
posted by compound eye at 5:02 AM on May 26, 2012

Uranium glaze is orange, even if uranium glass isn't.

Do you know anybody who has a Geiger counter?
posted by one more dead town's last parade at 6:44 AM on May 26, 2012

Might want to try the Cellphone geiger counter app
posted by Orb2069 at 6:56 AM on May 26, 2012 [2 favorites]

but does that mean that they wouldn't use the same pigments?
i know v.little about the process of glass making

Uranium in glass always has a yellow or greenish tinge. The process to make a uranium orange glaze for ceramic is oxidative to produce a particular color change while in the kiln.
posted by oneirodynia at 10:13 AM on May 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

I can find no reference to Holmegaard Glass {Works/Factory/Company} products being radioactive. Fiesta is a special case and there is a lot of discussion about it (some erroneous), but I don't think there is any reason to extrapolate that concern (which is specific) to all orange-colored ceramics made anywhere.

Generally, the ceramic process may produce detectable levels of radioactivity, but also seals in particulate emissions. Ingesting leached material is a concern, but the risk can be minimized by reserving any dinnerware of concern for special occasions.
posted by dhartung at 2:20 PM on May 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

thanks everyone,

I don't have the mug,
my partner is looking to replace a relative's broken item.

The mug on ebay looks like an orange version of the broken item, however it also looks remarkably like another item from the early 70's which was I was told did have a uranium glaze. Most likely that claim was wrong. But I thought it was worth asking the hive incase we were about to send someone a radioactive coffee mug to drink from.
posted by compound eye at 7:50 PM on May 26, 2012