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{{short description|Glass colored with uranium oxide}}
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[[File:Vasline glass glowing.jpg|thumb|Various Vaseline glassware glowing under a few UV black lights]]
[[File:Vacuum capacitor with uranium glass.jpg|thumb|Uranium glass used as lead-in seals in a vacuum [[capacitor]]]]
[[File:Vacuum capacitor with uranium glass.jpg|thumb|Uranium glass used as lead-in seals in a vacuum [[capacitor]]]]
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[[File:Vasline glass glowing.jpg|thumb|upright=2.5|Uranium glassware glowing under ultraviolet light]]
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'''Uranium glass''' is [[glass]] which has had [[uranium]], usually in oxide [[diuranate]] form, added to a glass mix before melting for coloration. The proportion usually varies from trace levels to about 2% uranium by weight, although some 20th-century pieces were made with up to 25% uranium.<ref>Big Book of Vaseline Glass, by Barrie Skelcher, Pub. Schiffer</ref><ref>[http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/consumer%20products/vaseline.htm "Vaseline and uranium glass ca. 1930s"]</ref>


⚫
'''Uranium glass''' is [[glass]] which has had [[uranium]], usually in oxide [[diuranate]] form, added to a glass mix before melting for colouration. The proportion usually varies from trace levels to about 2% uranium by weight, although some 20th-century pieces were made with up to 25% uranium.<ref>Big Book of Vaseline Glass, by Barrie Skelcher, Pub. Schiffer</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Vaseline and Uranium Glass (ca. 1930s)|url=https://www.orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/consumer/glass/vaseline-uranium-glass.html|website=ORAU Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity}}</ref>
⚫
Uranium glass was once made into tableware and household items, but fell out of widespread use when the availability of uranium to most industries was sharply curtailed during the [[Cold War]] in the 1940s to 1990s. Most such objects are now considered antiques or retro-era collectibles, although there has been a minor revival in [[Glass#Glass art|art glassware]]. Otherwise, modern uranium glass is now mainly limited to small objects like [[bead]]s or [[Marble (toy)|marbles]] as scientific or decorative novelties.

First identified in 1789 by German chemist [[Martin Heinrich Klaproth]], uranium was soon being added to decorative glass for its fluorescent effect. [[James Powell and Sons|James Powell's Whitefriars Glass]] company in London, England, was one of the first to market the glowing glass, but other manufacturers soon realised its sales potential and uranium glass was produced across Europe<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/these-people-love-to-collect-radioactive-glass/|title = These People Love to Collect Radioactive Glass. Are They Nuts?}}</ref> and later in Ohio.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/what-is-custard-glass-148926|title=What is Custard Glass?}}</ref>

⚫
Uranium glass was made into tableware and household items, but fell out of widespread use when the availability of uranium to most industries was sharply curtailed during the [[Cold War]] in the 1940s to 1990s, with the vast majority of the world's uranium supply being utilised as a [[strategic material]] for use in [[nuclear weapon]]s or [[nuclear power]]. Most uranium glass is now considered to be [[antique]]s or retro-era [[collectable]]s, although there has been a minor revival in [[Glass#Glass art|art glassware]]. Otherwise, modern uranium glass is now mainly limited to small objects like [[bead]]s or [[Marble (toy)|marbles]] as scientific or decorative novelties.


==Appearance==
==Appearance==
The normal colour of uranium glass ranges from yellow to green depending on the [[oxidation state]] and concentration of the metal ions, although this may be altered by the addition of other elements as [[Glass container industry#Colors|glass colorants]]. Uranium glass also [[fluorescence|fluoresces]] bright green under [[ultraviolet light]] and can register above background radiation on a sufficiently sensitive [[Geiger counter]], although most pieces of uranium glass are considered to be harmless and only negligibly [[radioactive]].<ref>{{cite journal
The normal colour of uranium glass ranges from yellow to green depending on the [[oxidation state]] and concentration of the metal ions, although this may be altered by the addition of other elements as [[Glass container industry#Colors|glass colorants]]. Uranium glass also [[fluorescence|fluoresces]] bright green under [[ultraviolet light]].<ref name=":0">{{cite journal
| last = Betti
| last = Betti
| first = Maria
| first = Maria
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| year = 2003
| year = 2003
| url = http://www.pdhealth.mil/downloads/Civil_Use_of_DU.pdf
| url = http://www.pdhealth.mil/downloads/Civil_Use_of_DU.pdf
| format = PDF
| access-date = 2007-12-09
| accessdate = 2007-12-09
| doi = 10.1016/S0265-931X(02)00042-5
| doi = 10.1016/S0265-931X(02)00042-5
| pmid = 12500798
| pmid = 12500798
| issue = 2-3 }}</ref>
| issue = 2–3
| bibcode = 2003JEnvR..64..113B
<gallery>
| archive-date = 2016-03-03
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File:Uranium glass beads, white background.jpg|Modern uranium glass beads (white background)
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172652/http://www.pdhealth.mil/downloads/Civil_Use_of_DU.pdf
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File:Uranium glass beads, black background.jpg|Modern uranium glass beads (black background)
| url-status = dead
File:Uranium glass beads, UV light.jpg|Modern uranium glass beads (UV light)
}}</ref>

<gallery heights=240 mode=packed>
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File:Uranium glass beads, black background.jpg|Modern uranium glass beads
⚫
File:Uranium glass beads, UV light.jpg|The same items under UV light
</gallery>
</gallery>


===Vaseline glass===
===Vaseline glass===
The most typical color of uranium glass is pale yellowish-green, which in the 1920s led to the nickname '''[[vaseline]] glass''' based on a perceived resemblance to the appearance of [[petroleum jelly]] as formulated and commercially sold at that time. Specialized collectors still define vaseline glass as transparent or semi-transparent uranium glass in this specific color.
The most common color of uranium glass is pale yellowish-green, which in the 1930s led to the nickname "Vaseline glass", based on a perceived resemblance to the appearance of [[Vaseline]]-brand [[petroleum jelly]] as formulated at that time. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Santos |first=Lucy Jane |date=2024-11-30 |title=The weird history of our dangerous relationship with uranium |url=https://www.popsci.com/science/chain-reaction-the-hopeful-history-of-uranium-book-excerpt/ |access-date=2024-12-03 |website=Popular Science |language=en-US}}</ref> Specialized collectors still define Vaseline glass as transparent or semi-transparent uranium glass in this specific color.<ref>Glickman, Jay L. and Fedosky, Terry, Yellow-Green Vaseline A Guide to the Magic Glass, Revised Edition, c. 1998, The Glass Press, Inc., dba Antique Publications. {{ISBN|1570800456}} (PB) or 1570800464 (HB)</ref>


Vaseline glass is now used as a synonym for any uranium glass, especially in the United States, but this usage is not universal. The term is sometimes carelessly applied to other types of glass based on certain aspects of their superficial appearance in normal light, regardless of actual uranium content which requires a [[blacklight]] test to verify the characteristic green fluorescence.
Vaseline glass is sometimes used as a synonym for any uranium glass, especially in the United States, but this usage is frowned upon,<ref name="orau.gov">{{Cite web|title=Vaseline and Uranium Glass (ca. 1930s)|url=https://www.orau.gov/health-physics-museum/collection/consumer/glass/vaseline-uranium-glass.html|access-date=2021-10-07|website=Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity|language=en|archive-date=2021-08-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822053043/https://www.orau.gov/health-physics-museum/collection/consumer/glass/vaseline-uranium-glass.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> since Vaseline-brand petroleum jelly was only yellow, not other colors. The term is sometimes applied to other types of glass based on certain aspects of their superficial appearance in normal light, regardless of actual uranium content which requires a [[blacklight]] test to verify the characteristic green fluorescence.<ref name="orau.gov"/>


In the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Australia]], the term vaseline glass can be used to refer to any type of translucent glass. Even within the United States, the "vaseline" description is sometimes applied to any type of translucent glass with a greasy surface [[luster (mineralogy)|luster]].
In the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Australia]], the term Vaseline glass can be used to refer to any type of translucent glass.

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=== {{anchor|Other colors}}Other colors ===
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{{redirect-distinguish|Jadite|Jadeite}}


⚫
==={{anchor|Other colours}}Other colors===
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{{redirect distinguish|Jadite|Jadeite}}
Several other common subtypes of uranium glass have their own nicknames:
Several other common subtypes of uranium glass have their own nicknames:
*'''custard glass''' (opaque or semiopaque pale yellow)
* '''Custard glass''' (opaque or semiopaque pale yellow)
*'''jadite glass''' (opaque or semi-opaque pale green; initially, the name was trademarked as "Jadite", although this is sometimes over-corrected in modern usage to "[[jadeite]]")
* '''Jadite glass''' (opaque or semi-opaque pale green; initially, the name was trademarked as "Jadite", although this is sometimes over-corrected in modern usage to "[[jadeite]]")
*'''[[Depression glass]]''' (transparent or semitransparent pale green).
* '''[[Depression glass]]''' (transparent or semitransparent pale green).
*'''[[Burmese glass]]''' (opaque glass that shades from pink to yellow)
* '''[[Burmese glass]]''' (opaque glass that shades from pink to yellow)
⚫
Like "Vaseline", the terms "custard" and "jad(e)ite" are often applied on the basis of superficial appearance rather than uranium content. Conversely, "Depression glass" is a general description for any piece of glassware manufactured during the [[Great Depression]] regardless of appearance or formula.


==Fabrication==
⚫
However, like "vaseline", the terms "custard" and "jad(e)ite" are often applied on the basis of superficial appearance rather than uranium content. Similarly, Depression glass is also a general description for any piece of glassware manufactured during the [[Great Depression]] regardless of appearance or formula.


⚫
Uranium glass is used as one of several intermediate glasses in what is known to scientific glass blowers as a 'graded seal'. This is typically used in glass-to-metal seals such as [[tungsten]] and [[molybdenum]] or [[nickel]] based alloys such as [[Kovar]], as an intermediary glass between the metal sealing glass and lower expansion borosilicate glass.
==History==


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==Usage==
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===Pre-industrial usage===
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The use of uranium glass dates back to at least 79 AD,<ref name="LANL">{{cite web|url=http://periodic.lanl.gov/92.shtml | title=Uranium | publisher=Los Alamos National Laboratory | accessdate=2016-01-30}}</ref> the date of a [[mosaic]] containing yellow glass with 1% [[uranium oxide]] found in a [[Roman Empire|Roman]] villa on Cape [[Posillipo]] in the [[Gulf of Naples|Bay of Naples]], [[Italy]] by R. T. Gunther of the [[University of Oxford]] in 1912.<ref name="BuildingBlocks482">Emsley, ''Nature's Building Blocks'' (2001), page 482</ref><ref>''The Earliest Known Use of a Material Containing Uranium'' by Earle R. Caley, Isis, Vol. 38, No. 3/4 (Feb., 1948). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/226113]</ref> Starting in the late [[Middle Ages]], [[uraninite|pitchblende]] was extracted from the [[Habsburg]] [[silver]] mines in [[Jáchymov|Joachimsthal]], [[Bohemia]] (now Jáchymov in the [[Czech Republic]]) and was used as a coloring agent in the local [[glass]]making industry.<ref name="BuildingBlocks482"/>


⚫
===Ancient usage===
⚫
[[Martin Klaproth]] (1743–1817), who discovered uranium, later experimented with the use of the [[Chemical element|element]] as a glass colourant.
⚫
The use of uranium glass dates back to at least 79 AD,<ref name="LANL">{{cite web |title=Uranium |url=http://periodic.lanl.gov/92.shtml |access-date=2016-01-30 |publisher=Los Alamos National Laboratory}}</ref> the date of a [[mosaic]] containing yellow glass with 1% [[uranium oxide]], which was found in a [[Roman Empire|Roman]] villa on Cape [[Posillipo]] in the [[Gulf of Naples|Bay of Naples]], [[Italy]], in 1912.<ref name="BuildingBlocks482">Emsley, ''Nature's Building Blocks'' (2001), page 482</ref><ref>''The Earliest Known Use of a Material Containing Uranium'' by [[Earle R. Caley]], Isis, Vol. 38, No. 3/4 (Feb., 1948). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/226113]</ref><!-- "by R. T. Gunther of the University of Oxford" is not important -->


=== Medieval usage ===
⚫
==Usage==
Starting in the late [[Middle Ages]], [[uraninite|pitchblende]] was extracted from the [[Habsburg]] [[silver]] mines in [[Jáchymov|Joachimsthal]], [[Bohemia]] (now Jáchymov in the [[Czech Republic]]), and was used as a coloring agent in the local [[glass]]making industry.<ref name="BuildingBlocks482" />


===Glass fabrication===
=== Modern usage ===
⚫
In 1789, [[Martin Klaproth]] discovered uranium. He later experimented with the use of the [[Chemical element|element]] as a glass colourant.
⚫
Uranium glass is used as one of several intermediate glasses in what is known to scientific glass blowers as a 'graded seal'. This is typically used in glass-to-metal seals such as [[tungsten]] and [[molybdenum]] or [[nickel]] based alloys such as [[Kovar]], as an intermediary glass between the metal sealing glass and lower expansion borosilicate glass.


===Modern production===
Uranium glass became popular in the mid-19th century, with its period of greatest popularity being from the 1880s to the 1920s.
Uranium glass became popular in the mid-19th century, with its period of greatest popularity being from the 1880s to the 1920s.


The first major producer of items made of uranium glass is commonly recognized as Austrian [[Franz Xaver Riedel]], who named the yellow ({{lang-de|Gelb}}) and yellow-green (German: Gelb-Grün) varieties of the glass "annagelb" and "annagrün", respectively, in honor of his daughter Anna Maria. Riedel was a prolific blower of uranium glass in [[Unter-Polaun]] (today [[Dolni Polubny]]), [[Bohemia]] from 1830 to 1848.
The first major producer of items made of uranium glass is commonly recognized as Austrian Franz Xaver Riedel, who named the yellow ({{langx|de|Gelb}}) and yellow-green (German: Gelb-Grün) varieties of the glass "annagelb" and "annagrün", respectively, in honor of his daughter Anna Maria. Riedel was a prolific blower of uranium glass in [[Unter-Polaun]] (today [[Dolni Polubny]]), [[Bohemia]] from 1830 to 1848.<ref>{{cite web |title=265 Years of RIEDEL Glass |url=https://www.riedel.com/en/blog/news/265-years-of-riedel |publisher=Riedel |access-date=23 December 2024 |language=English |date=19 July 2022}}</ref>


By the 1840s, many other [[Europe]]an glassworks began to produce uranium glass items and developed new varieties of uranium glass. The [[Baccarat (company)|Baccarat glassworks]] in [[France]] created an opaque green uranium glass which they named [[chrysoprase]] from its similarity to that green form of [[chalcedony]].
By the 1840s, many other [[Europe]]an glassworks began to produce uranium glass items and developed new varieties of uranium glass. The [[Baccarat (company)|Baccarat glassworks]] in [[France]] created an opaque green uranium glass which they named [[chrysoprase]] from its similarity to that green form of [[chalcedony]].


<gallery>
<gallery heights=220 mode=packed>
File:Fluorescent Uranium Depression Glass.jpg|[[Fluorescent]] uranium [[Depression glass]]
File:Fluorescent Uranium Depression Glass.jpg|[[Fluorescent]] uranium [[Depression glass]]
Image:U glass above.jpg|A uranium glass cakeplate glowing under UV light.
Image:U glass above.jpg|A uranium glass cakeplate glowing under UV light.
Image:U glass with black light.jpg|Uranium glass glowing under UV light
Image:U glass with black light.jpg|Uranium glass glowing under UV light
File:Uranium-glass-necklace.jpg|Uranium glass [[necklace]], circa 1930.
</gallery>
</gallery>
⚫
At the end of the 19th century, glassmakers discovered that uranium glass with certain mineral additions could be tempered at high temperatures, inducing varying degrees of micro-crystallization. This produced a range of increasingly [[Opacity (optics)|opaque]] glasses from the traditional [[transparency (optics)|transparent]] yellow or yellow-green to an opaque white. During the Depression years, more [[iron oxide]] was added to the mixture to match popular preferences for a greener glass.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www1.parkcity.ne.jp/ken-toma/1.1.html |title=Introduction |publisher=.parkcity.ne.jp |date= |accessdate=2014-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140501095346/http://www1.parkcity.ne.jp/ken-toma/1.1.html |archive-date=2014-05-01 |dead-url=yes |df= }}</ref> This material, technically a [[glass-ceramic]], acquired the name "vaseline glass" because of its supposedly similar appearance to [[petroleum jelly]]. Today, a few manufacturers continue the vaseline glass tradition: [[Fenton Art Glass Company|Fenton Glass]], [[Mosser Glass]], [[Gibson Glass]] and [[Jack Loranger]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vaselineglass.org/ |title=Vaseline Glass Collectors, Inc |publisher=Vaselineglass.org |date= |accessdate=2014-01-05}}</ref>


⚫
At the end of the 19th century, glassmakers discovered that uranium glass with certain mineral additions could be tempered at high temperatures, inducing varying degrees of micro-crystallization. This produced a range of increasingly [[Opacity (optics)|opaque]] glasses from the traditional [[transparency (optics)|transparent]] yellow or yellow-green to an opaque white. During the Depression years, more [[iron oxide]] was added to the mixture to match popular preferences for a greener glass.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www1.parkcity.ne.jp/ken-toma/1.1.html |title=Introduction |publisher=.parkcity.ne.jp |access-date=2014-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140501095346/http://www1.parkcity.ne.jp/ken-toma/1.1.html |archive-date=2014-05-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This material, technically a [[glass-ceramic]], acquired the name "vaseline glass" because of its supposedly similar appearance to [[petroleum jelly]]. {{As of|2014}}, a few manufacturers continue the vaseline glass tradition: [[Fenton Art Glass Company|Fenton Glass]], [[Mosser Glass]], [[Gibson Glass]] and [[Jack Loranger]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vaselineglass.org/ |title=Vaseline Glass Collectors, Inc |publisher=Vaselineglass.org |access-date=2014-01-05}}</ref>
⚫
US production of uranium glasses ceased in the middle years of [[World War II]] because of the US government's confiscation of uranium supplies for the Manhattan Project from 1942 to 1958. After the restrictions in the United States were eased several firms resumed production of uranium glass, including Fenton, and Mosser; though uranium was still regulated as a strategic material.<ref name="Marks">{{cite web |last1=Marks |first1=Ben |title=These People Love to Collect Radioactive Glass. Are They Nuts? |url=https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/these-people-love-to-collect-radioactive-glass/|website=Collectors Weekly|date=July 30, 2014|accessdate=9 July 2018 |language=en}}</ref> Following the Cold War, restrictions on uranium glass were completely lifted. During this time many older pieces entered the free market and new pieces continued to be produced in small quantities into the 2000's.<ref name="Boot">{{cite journal |last1=Boot |first1=Roeland |title=Uranium Glass: A Glowing Alternative to Conventional Sources of Radioactivity |journal=The Physics Teacher |date=February 2017 |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=76–78 |doi=10.1119/1.4974115}}</ref>


⚫
U.S. production of uranium glasses ceased in the middle years of [[World War II]] because of the government's confiscation of uranium supplies for the [[Manhattan Project]] from 1942 to 1958. After the restrictions in the United States were eased several firms resumed production of uranium glass, including Fenton, and Mosser; though uranium was still regulated as a strategic material.<ref name="Marks">{{cite web |last1=Marks |first1=Ben |title=These People Love to Collect Radioactive Glass. Are They Nuts? |url=https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/these-people-love-to-collect-radioactive-glass/|website=Collectors Weekly|date=July 30, 2014|access-date=9 July 2018 |language=en}}</ref> Following the Cold War, restrictions on uranium glass were completely lifted. During this time many older pieces entered the free market and new pieces continued to be produced in small quantities into the 2000s.<ref name="Boot">{{cite journal |last1=Boot |first1=Roeland |title=Uranium Glass: A Glowing Alternative to Conventional Sources of Radioactivity |journal=The Physics Teacher |date=February 2017 |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=76–78 |doi=10.1119/1.4974115|bibcode=2017PhTea..55...76B }}</ref>
[[Riihimäki Glass]] produced uranium glass designer pieces after [[World War II]].{{citation needed|reason=Cursory check bring up no mention of it.|date=September 2014}}

[[Riihimäki Glass]] produced uranium glass designer pieces after [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Uranium Glass Identification Guide |url=https://www.20thcenturyglass.com/glass_encyclopedia/uranium_glass/ |website=20th Century Glass |access-date=23 December 2024}}</ref>

== Health concerns ==
Uranium glass can register above [[background radiation]] on a sufficiently sensitive [[Geiger counter]], although most pieces of uranium glass are considered to be harmless and only negligibly [[Radioactive decay|radioactive]].<ref name=":0" /> A study conducted on uranium glass in a private collection found that the dose rates of [[Beta particle|beta]] and [[Gamma Radiation|gamma]] radiation emitted from the glass posed no danger to the public or to conservators.<ref name="Lopes">{{cite journal |last1=Lopes |first1=Filipa |last2=Ruivo |first2=Andreia |last3=Muralha |first3=Vânia S.F. |last4=Lima |first4=Augusta |last5=Duarte |first5=Pedro |last6=Paiva |first6=Isabel |last7=Trindade |first7=Romão |last8=Pires de Matos |first8=António |title=Uranium glass in museum collections |journal=Journal of Cultural Heritage |date=December 2008 |volume=9 |pages=e64–e68 |doi=10.1016/j.culher.2008.08.009 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S129620740800099X#sec5 |access-date=23 December 2024|hdl=10362/5534 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
Line 80: Line 96:
*[[Fiestaware]]
*[[Fiestaware]]
*[[Sievert]]
*[[Sievert]]
*[[Uranium]]
*[[Uranium tile]]


==References==
==References==
Line 91: Line 107:
*[http://www.glassassociation.co.uk/sites/default/files/Uranium_Glass_sample_article.pdf Uranium Glass – The Glass Association]
*[http://www.glassassociation.co.uk/sites/default/files/Uranium_Glass_sample_article.pdf Uranium Glass – The Glass Association]
*[http://www.glass.co.nz/Davidson.htm Davidson English Pressed Glass at the Glass Museum]
*[http://www.glass.co.nz/Davidson.htm Davidson English Pressed Glass at the Glass Museum]
*[http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/consumer%20products/vaseline.htm Vaseline and Uranium Glass at the Health Physics Historical Instrumentation Museum Collection]
*[https://www.orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/consumer/glass/vaseline-uranium-glass.html Vaseline and Uranium Glass at the Health Physics Historical Instrumentation Museum Collection]



{{-}}
{{Glass science}}
{{Glass science}}
{{Glass forming}}
{{Glass forming}}

Revision as of 09:42, 1 January 2025

Uranium glass used as lead-in seals in a vacuum capacitor
Uranium glassware glowing under ultraviolet light

Uranium glass is glass which has had uranium, usually in oxide diuranate form, added to a glass mix before melting for colouration. The proportion usually varies from trace levels to about 2% uranium by weight, although some 20th-century pieces were made with up to 25% uranium.[1][2]

First identified in 1789 by German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth, uranium was soon being added to decorative glass for its fluorescent effect. James Powell's Whitefriars Glass company in London, England, was one of the first to market the glowing glass, but other manufacturers soon realised its sales potential and uranium glass was produced across Europe[3] and later in Ohio.[4]

Uranium glass was made into tableware and household items, but fell out of widespread use when the availability of uranium to most industries was sharply curtailed during the Cold War in the 1940s to 1990s, with the vast majority of the world's uranium supply being utilised as a strategic material for use in nuclear weapons or nuclear power. Most uranium glass is now considered to be antiques or retro-era collectables, although there has been a minor revival in art glassware. Otherwise, modern uranium glass is now mainly limited to small objects like beads or marbles as scientific or decorative novelties.

Appearance

The normal colour of uranium glass ranges from yellow to green depending on the oxidation state and concentration of the metal ions, although this may be altered by the addition of other elements as glass colorants. Uranium glass also fluoresces bright green under ultraviolet light.[5]

  • Modern uranium glass beads
    Modern uranium glass beads
  • The same items under UV light
    The same items under UV light

Vaseline glass

The most common color of uranium glass is pale yellowish-green, which in the 1930s led to the nickname "Vaseline glass", based on a perceived resemblance to the appearance of Vaseline-brand petroleum jelly as formulated at that time. [6] Specialized collectors still define Vaseline glass as transparent or semi-transparent uranium glass in this specific color.[7]

Vaseline glass is sometimes used as a synonym for any uranium glass, especially in the United States, but this usage is frowned upon,[8] since Vaseline-brand petroleum jelly was only yellow, not other colors. The term is sometimes applied to other types of glass based on certain aspects of their superficial appearance in normal light, regardless of actual uranium content which requires a blacklight test to verify the characteristic green fluorescence.[8]

In the United Kingdom and Australia, the term Vaseline glass can be used to refer to any type of translucent glass.

Other colors

"Jadite" redirects here. Not to be confused with Jadeite.

Several other common subtypes of uranium glass have their own nicknames:

  • Custard glass (opaque or semiopaque pale yellow)
  • Jadite glass (opaque or semi-opaque pale green; initially, the name was trademarked as "Jadite", although this is sometimes over-corrected in modern usage to "jadeite")
  • Depression glass (transparent or semitransparent pale green).
  • Burmese glass (opaque glass that shades from pink to yellow)

Like "Vaseline", the terms "custard" and "jad(e)ite" are often applied on the basis of superficial appearance rather than uranium content. Conversely, "Depression glass" is a general description for any piece of glassware manufactured during the Great Depression regardless of appearance or formula.

Fabrication

Uranium glass is used as one of several intermediate glasses in what is known to scientific glass blowers as a 'graded seal'. This is typically used in glass-to-metal seals such as tungsten and molybdenum or nickel based alloys such as Kovar, as an intermediary glass between the metal sealing glass and lower expansion borosilicate glass.

Usage

Ancient usage

The use of uranium glass dates back to at least 79 AD,[9] the date of a mosaic containing yellow glass with 1% uranium oxide, which was found in a Roman villa on Cape Posillipo in the Bay of Naples, Italy, in 1912.[10][11]

Medieval usage

Starting in the late Middle Ages, pitchblende was extracted from the Habsburg silver mines in Joachimsthal, Bohemia (now Jáchymov in the Czech Republic), and was used as a coloring agent in the local glassmaking industry.[10]

Modern usage

In 1789, Martin Klaproth discovered uranium. He later experimented with the use of the element as a glass colourant.

Uranium glass became popular in the mid-19th century, with its period of greatest popularity being from the 1880s to the 1920s.

The first major producer of items made of uranium glass is commonly recognized as Austrian Franz Xaver Riedel, who named the yellow (German: Gelb) and yellow-green (German: Gelb-Grün) varieties of the glass "annagelb" and "annagrün", respectively, in honor of his daughter Anna Maria. Riedel was a prolific blower of uranium glass in Unter-Polaun (today Dolni Polubny), Bohemia from 1830 to 1848.[12]

By the 1840s, many other European glassworks began to produce uranium glass items and developed new varieties of uranium glass. The Baccarat glassworks in France created an opaque green uranium glass which they named chrysoprase from its similarity to that green form of chalcedony.

At the end of the 19th century, glassmakers discovered that uranium glass with certain mineral additions could be tempered at high temperatures, inducing varying degrees of micro-crystallization. This produced a range of increasingly opaque glasses from the traditional transparent yellow or yellow-green to an opaque white. During the Depression years, more iron oxide was added to the mixture to match popular preferences for a greener glass.[13] This material, technically a glass-ceramic, acquired the name "vaseline glass" because of its supposedly similar appearance to petroleum jelly. As of 2014, a few manufacturers continue the vaseline glass tradition: Fenton Glass, Mosser Glass, Gibson Glass and Jack Loranger.[14]

U.S. production of uranium glasses ceased in the middle years of World War II because of the government's confiscation of uranium supplies for the Manhattan Project from 1942 to 1958. After the restrictions in the United States were eased several firms resumed production of uranium glass, including Fenton, and Mosser; though uranium was still regulated as a strategic material.[15] Following the Cold War, restrictions on uranium glass were completely lifted. During this time many older pieces entered the free market and new pieces continued to be produced in small quantities into the 2000s.[16]

Riihimäki Glass produced uranium glass designer pieces after World War II.[17]

Health concerns

Uranium glass can register above background radiation on a sufficiently sensitive Geiger counter, although most pieces of uranium glass are considered to be harmless and only negligibly radioactive.[5] A study conducted on uranium glass in a private collection found that the dose rates of beta and gamma radiation emitted from the glass posed no danger to the public or to conservators.[18]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Uranium glass.

References

  1. ^ Big Book of Vaseline Glass, by Barrie Skelcher, Pub. Schiffer
  2. ^ "Vaseline and Uranium Glass (ca. 1930s)". ORAU Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity.
  3. ^ "These People Love to Collect Radioactive Glass. Are They Nuts?".
  4. ^ "What is Custard Glass?".
  5. ^ a b Betti, Maria (2003). "Civil use of depleted uranium" (PDF). Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. 64 (2–3). Elsevier: 113–119. Bibcode:2003JEnvR..64..113B. doi:10.1016/S0265-931X(02)00042-5. PMID 12500798. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
  6. ^ Santos, Lucy Jane (2024-11-30). "The weird history of our dangerous relationship with uranium". Popular Science. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
  7. ^ Glickman, Jay L. and Fedosky, Terry, Yellow-Green Vaseline A Guide to the Magic Glass, Revised Edition, c. 1998, The Glass Press, Inc., dba Antique Publications. ISBN 1570800456 (PB) or 1570800464 (HB)
  8. ^ a b "Vaseline and Uranium Glass (ca. 1930s)". Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity. Archived from the original on 2021-08-22. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  9. ^ "Uranium". Los Alamos National Laboratory. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
  10. ^ a b Emsley, Nature's Building Blocks (2001), page 482
  11. ^ The Earliest Known Use of a Material Containing Uranium by Earle R. Caley, Isis, Vol. 38, No. 3/4 (Feb., 1948). [1]
  12. ^ "265 Years of RIEDEL Glass". Riedel. 19 July 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  13. ^ "Introduction". .parkcity.ne.jp. Archived from the original on 2014-05-01. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
  14. ^ "Vaseline Glass Collectors, Inc". Vaselineglass.org. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
  15. ^ Marks, Ben (July 30, 2014). "These People Love to Collect Radioactive Glass. Are They Nuts?". Collectors Weekly. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  16. ^ Boot, Roeland (February 2017). "Uranium Glass: A Glowing Alternative to Conventional Sources of Radioactivity". The Physics Teacher. 55 (2): 76–78. Bibcode:2017PhTea..55...76B. doi:10.1119/1.4974115.
  17. ^ "Uranium Glass Identification Guide". 20th Century Glass. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  18. ^ Lopes, Filipa; Ruivo, Andreia; Muralha, Vânia S.F.; Lima, Augusta; Duarte, Pedro; Paiva, Isabel; Trindade, Romão; Pires de Matos, António (December 2008). "Uranium glass in museum collections". Journal of Cultural Heritage. 9: e64 – e68. doi:10.1016/j.culher.2008.08.009. hdl:10362/5534. Retrieved 23 December 2024.

Further reading

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