[Moth]

I wear my mask whenever I'm disturbing glass powders or enamels. I don't ever sift them or sprinkle them unless I'm grinding them smaller or changing containers, etc. 99 percent of the time I'm just rolling a bead across the surface of a container filled with powder.

Admittedly, I don't always wear my mask. Ironically, it's because it makes me feel like I'm suffocating...which I surely will be suffocating if I end up with mesothelioma or some other manifestation of lung disease.

I can't imagine teaching any class involving powders and not insisting that all the students wear masks, including myself. I would probably stand there and tell them all how important it is to always wear it, and insist that they keep their masks on at all times when working with powders. Then I'd go home and not wear mine. Bad. It really is bad. It's like not wearing your seat belt because you think you're only driving a couple of blocks and you'll be fine...and then you get in a terrible accident a quarter of a mile from your house.

I'm already wondering what I'm going to do at SGI. Almost everything I make has powders on it. I can't bring all those powders with me and use them in a big room with everyone else. They aren't all going to want to wear a mask just because I have to put powder on everything. So...guess I'm going to have to make other stuff while I'm there. LOL

I do watch a lot of furnace glass videos and cringe when I see all those people sucking air while some guy sifts a couple pounds of glass powder onto a gather. You can see the cloud of it drifting and nobody seems to care. That makes me nervous.

I think it is easier for me to not wear my mask because when I roll a little olive sized gather of glass in a container of powder I don't actually see anything go airborne. False security.

~~Mary

ps--wear your mask