Some of you may have seen the recent press regarding an environmental issue surrounding the art glass industry in the USA. We want to reassure our customers by sharing this statement from Spectrum, who are our main glass supplier:
"Recently, the subject of air quality around the Bullseye Glass factory, in Portland, Oregon, received a lot of press, specifically as it related to arsenic and cadmium. So we thought we would share some facts about the manufacturing process employed here at Spectrum Glass Company, including all the steps we take to minimize any impact our production might have on our surrounding community in Woodinville.
First, arsenic is not a component in any of our products and we do not use any form of raw cadmium in our factory. The only form of cadmium used at Spectrum is a pre-melted, glassified cadmium that is added to make some of our products, namely red, orange and yellow glasses.
Even though this cadmium is in a glassified state when added as a colorant, our furnace baghouses do play an important role in capturing contaminants that may be related to this material. Due to the size of our furnaces, we use baghouse pollution control equipment to filter the exhaust coming from our furnaces. This equipment is checked at least once per day while in operation to ensure it’s functioning properly. We also have baghouses that filter the air that is ventilated from our iridescent coating application process, and batch department, where product ingredients are combined prior to melting.
Spectrum is routinely evaluating our equipment and process modifications to reduce emissions, and are regularly subject to inspections by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. We are in full compliance with all Washington State environmental regulations, including our Puget Sound Clean Air Agency permit.
Out of an abundance of caution, however, we have contacted the Air Agency specifically to determine if there are any areas of our operation that we could improve. We hope that this information helps to answer questions you may have about any impact the materials produced at Spectrum Glass Company might have on our community here in Woodinville. Worker and community safety are our highest priorities."
http://www.spectrumglass.com/stained-gl…/CleanAirEfforts.asp