Estimation of lead intake from crystalware under conditions of consumer use.

The purpose of this study was to estimate the lead intake from crystalware resulting from short-term contacts with beverages, under conditions that are likely to occur to a consumer. The extraction ability of different kinds of beverages was estimated by comparison with 4% acetic acid under conditions of continuous contact for 3 h. It was found that lead release increased in the following order: cola drink > HAc > whisky > white wine. Under conditions of repeated use under different scenarios, lead release showed a steep decrease with increasing number of contacts, for both wine and cola drink. The maximum lead intake resulted from the cola drink, corresponding to an ingestion of 14.5 micrograms Pb for consumption of 350 ml beverage. Assuming a fixed contribution from the diet of 71 micrograms/day, in the six scenarios taken into consideration, total daily lead intake levels ranged from a minimum of about 76 micrograms up to a maximum of 86 micrograms lead. As these values, converted on a weekly basis, would correspond to 35% and 40% PTWI respectively, significant health risks resulting from the ingestion of beverages in contact with crystalware can be excluded. Finally it was found that the use of a dishwater did not affect significantly the release of lead into wine, while release into cola drink was slightly but significantly increased after the third cycle.

Bioactive glass coating: physicochemical aspects and biological findings.

Glass coating material was investigated before and after spraying to see whether it maintained the chemical and physical properties; in vivo and in vitro studies were done to evaluate the biological results. Following the spraying process, the Biovetro coating on the TiAl6V4 plate--as evidenced from chemical and physical analysis--maintains the properties of the original glass unchanged as far as the amorphous structure and its behaviour in a hydrolytic environment are concerned. In vitro and in vivo studies underline the positive features of the coating obtained by the plasma spray process, confirming that it has the typical properties of bioactive glass patented under the trade mark, Biovetro, i.e. biodegradability and osteoconductivity already confirmed by previous experimental protocols carried out by our group using powdered and fibre Biovetro.