Leaching Of Uranium From Glass And Ceramic Foodware And Decorative Items

Beginning as early as the first century AD and continuing until at least the 1970s, uranium was used as a colouring agent in glass and in ceramic glazes. The leaching of uranium from such items is of interest as some were designed for food storage or serving. 33 glass items and two ceramic items were leached sequentially with deionized water, dilute acetic acid, and 1M nitric acid to assess realistic and worst-case scenario leaching by foods and beverages. The maximum quantity of uranium leached from the uranium-bearing glasses was about 30 micrograms L-1, while that from the ceramic-glazed items was about 300,000 micrograms L-1.