In September 1987, during the first Santa Fe Symposium on Jewelry Manufacturing Technology, a number of issues were raised regarding the overall production of jewelry and the potential health and safety concerns associated with these processes. Included in these concerns were the use of cyanide and ammonia; solvents, acids, cadmium, and potential silica-type exposures.

This paper will describe the basic background and/or working conditions evaluated; the environmental and sampling procedures used in the study; the environmental standards and/or criteria for silica; toxicology or the disease 132 process; air sampling results, conclusions, and recommendations necessary to resolve the health concerns found in this survey and possibly other jewelry companies that use investment powder.

Author: Paul Pryor