Uranium

URANIUM SALTS

Hazards

Uranium

Miscellaneous

Family: Colorant
Region: None
Mined At: Unspecified
Raw Mineral: Yes
Generic: No

Notes

Uranium is a naturally occurring element in soils and rock. There are many different isotopes of uranium, each with a different combination of alpha, beta, gamma, and xray emissions. Uranium is primarily an alpha emitter (97-98%), but it is also a low level x-ray emitter (2-3%). Although there is background radiation all around us, use of low radiation materials adds unnecessarily to this.

Dangers from handling uranium glazes or uranium glazed pieces.

-Airborne uranium oxide can be inhaled, putting it in direct contact with lung tissue.

-Leaching of both toxic and radioactive material from the glazes.

-Uranium is a heavy metal, therefore it is inherently poisonous as such. The primary danger here is to the liver and kidneys from ingestion (and then you have to worry about the radioactivity on top of that).

-The danger represented by the two primary daughter products of uranium decay, Thorium 234 and Protactinium 234. These two radioisotopes are strong beta emitters and gamma emitters ("really, really nasty").

Legally, in the United States, you may not sell a piece that contains uranium to an individual. You may sell it to another business (if you let them know they are buying pottery, glass, whatever, that contains uranium). Of course, that business is not allowed to legally sell the piece to an individual after purchasing it from you.

Alpha emitters have large particles that can be stopped by the skin, however inside the body, they are more dangerous. Gamma radiation penetrates better but gamma emitters generally have a short half life so ingested gamma emitters don't stay in the body nearly as long.

Note

(Richard Willis)

Element, with the symbol U and atomic weight of 238
Strong and unique colorants for reds, oranges and blacks (in combination with cobalt and manganese). Extremely dangerous. Using these in the studio requires very special handling and cleaning — and very special handling and cleaning of gloves and masks and clothes. Too many ceramists who have tried to be very careful notice after a few years that the skin on their fingers begins to sore and not cure, for example.
commonly used forms
— uranous oxide UO₂— uranite nitrate UO₂(NO₃)₂, 6H₂O
— soda uranate Na₂U₂O₇, 6H₂O
— pitchblende U₃O₆
— uranic oxide UO₃

Linked Articles

L'URANIUM et la CÉRAMIQUE - Edouard Bastarache
L'URANIUM et la CÉRAMIQUE - Edouard Bastarache
URANIUM and CERAMICS by Edouard Bastarache
URANIUM and CERAMICS by Edouard Bastarache

URLs

Periodic Table record information - http://pearl1.lanl.gov/periodic/elements/92.html

Authors

Tony Hansen (Owner)

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<material name="Uranium" descrip="URANIUM SALTS" generic="0" rawmineral="1" searchkey="" loi="0.00">
<families>
<family name="Colorant"/>
</families>
<hazards>
<hazard name="Uranium"/>
</hazards>
<notes>
<note>Uranium is a naturally occurring element in soils and rock. There are many different isotopes of uranium, each with a different combination of alpha, beta, gamma, and xray emissions. Uranium is primarily an alpha emitter (97-98%), but it is also a low level x-ray emitter (2-3%). Although there is background radiation all around us, use of low radiation materials adds unnecessarily to this.

Dangers from handling uranium glazes or uranium glazed pieces.

-Airborne uranium oxide can be inhaled, putting it in direct contact with lung tissue.

-Leaching of both toxic and radioactive material from the glazes.

-Uranium is a heavy metal, therefore it is inherently poisonous as such. The primary danger here is to the liver and kidneys from ingestion (and then you have to worry about the radioactivity on top of that).

-The danger represented by the two primary daughter products of uranium decay, Thorium 234 and Protactinium 234. These two radioisotopes are strong beta emitters and gamma emitters ("really, really nasty").

Legally, in the United States, you may not sell a piece that contains uranium to an individual. You may sell it to another business (if you let them know they are buying pottery, glass, whatever, that contains uranium). Of course, that business is not allowed to legally sell the piece to an individual after purchasing it from you.

Alpha emitters have large particles that can be stopped by the skin, however inside the body, they are more dangerous. Gamma radiation penetrates better but gamma emitters generally have a short half life so ingested gamma emitters don\'t stay in the body nearly as long.</note>
<note>Element, with the symbol U and atomic weight of 238 
Strong and unique colorants for reds, oranges and blacks (in combination with cobalt and manganese). Extremely dangerous. Using these in the studio requires very special handling and cleaning &#151; and very special handling and cleaning of gloves and masks and clothes. Too many ceramists who have tried to be very careful notice after a few years that the skin on their fingers begins to sore and not cure, for example. 
commonly used forms 
&#151; uranous oxide UO2 
&#151; uranite nitrate UO2(NO3)2, 6H2O 
&#151; soda uranate Na2U2O7, 6H2O 
&#151; pitchblende U3O6 
&#151; uranic oxide UO3 

</note>
</notes>
</material>

Much more information with complete interlinking to many related
databases can be found by logging into the www.ceramicmaterials.info database

INSIGHT is ceramic chemistry
calculation software that runs on
Windows, Mac and Linux and talks
to this web site.

Ceramic Materials Database