shocking product from China

From what I hear, nobody accepts the blame for such things. The importers just say that they didn't know. And they seem to get away with it. ----Like the lead paint issues that come up every now and then. I always thought "caveat emptor" was Latin, but I guess it's really Chinese.

I think many of us old farts alive today will see China begin to implode from its own travesties.

I guess all you have to do is to have a container filled with product over there and it appears at your door here, for about $5000.

Pete Stanaitis

-------------- Mart> We have been cleaning up after yet another Hurricane and my wife was

Mercury-silver amalgam was used for mirrors, but it's an expensive process, and was replaced first by chemical silvering, and then by vacuum aluminizing. And amalgam is even today used for dental fillings. You probably have a few in your mouth. I wouldn't get too excited about this.

If it's even true. It would take a lot of hydrogen sulfide fumes to convert the mercury back to cinnabar. The brick red may be protective paint, to keep a pure silver or aluminum film from corroding. I recall repairing mirrors like that.

Joe Gwinn

There are **NO** regulations in China. Haven't you been reading the news? They feed their own kids seriously tainted milk! Antifreeze is used as a sweetener in toothpaste, permitted by LAW! They use lead-based paint on toys sold to the US.

Where have you been?

Jon

this post makes no sense at all.

They have regulations, they just ignore them if it'll make money for the friends of those in high places (see "Bush Administration").

Conveniently ignoring the fact that it was Bill Clinton, not G.W. Bush, who ensured that China was awarded "most favored nation" trading status...

Which is why genuine economists consider Clinton to be an economic conservative. He bought almost the whole program: "free" trade, deregulation, limited welfare, balanced budgets, inflation-fighting, and so on. He was a Washington Consensus guy, from NAFTA to the IMF and the World Bank.

Bush is, too. The difference is that Bush doesn't have a clue about how the pieces are supposed to fit together. No Rhodes Scholar he, Bush just follows the economic programs he's told.

-- Ed Huntress

Come on guys, this isn't a China thing. We make them that way as well and have for a very long time. The amount of mercury amalgam used is miniscule and of no hazard to the environment. There is a lot of China bashing going on right now, but only some of it is justified and this is not one of them. These products are purchased by us. I don't see any chinamen with guns to our heads and until we are willing to work for a hundred dollars a week, this isn't going to change. Steve

I'm conservative, capitalist, right-wing and probably on your side. I hate many things that Billy Boy and Hillary did . . . BUT The first time I recall China and it's "most favored nation" status was under ol' Tricky Dicky!

I really should have left out the political gouge. Oh well.

Who's we? I find this hard to believe.

"Mirrors made of glass backed with a reflective coating of tin amalgam first came into general use in the sixteenth century. Production ceased around 1900."

On the other hand, I also find it hard to believe Martin's mirror is mercury coated. In the absence of more evidence, it seems far more likely the red is a protective coating rather than cinnabar.

I could be wrong, but more likely the deposit is a copper layer that was probably sputtered (PVD?) on. If you deposit some on steel wire and put it in a torch flame, you should see a green tinge. (Of course, you need to decide if the risks you perceive warrant the benefits of satisfying your curiosity.)

See:

Exerpt(s): =93=85.Nowadays, mirrors are often produced by the vacuum deposition of aluminium (or sometimes silver) directly onto the glass substrate.=85 In modern times the mirror substrate is shaped, polished and cleaned, and is then coated. Glass mirrors are most often coated with non-toxic silver or aluminium, implemented by a series of coatings: tin silver chemical activator copper paint The tin is applied because silver will not bond with the glass. The activator causes the tin/silver to harden. Copper is added for long- term durability.[13] The paint protects the coating on the back of the mirror from scratches and other accidental damage=85.=94

On Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:58:09 -0400, the infamous "Ed Huntress" scrolled the following:

I'd be willing to bet that most of our Presidents have -not- been Rhodes Scholars and have pretty much just listened to their economic advisors all along.

Shrub is Shrub; no further comment is necessary.

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Joe -

The brick red is a crystal like growing set of harry lines. I figure a hard protective layer was put one to seal and it cracked in the hot sun.

Martin

Mart> >

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I also found another possibility -- red lead oxide (see pg. 4)

Most of the mirrors are made in Mexico at the Silver mine. There was a rather good show on that the other day on Science channel.

Martin

Mart> Come on guys, this isn't a China thing. We make them that way as well and

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Red coating doesn't spread in dendrites.

I have a Minor in Geology. Degree in Physics Degree in Theoretical Math. The back is covered in a rubber coating - that covers up the other coating.

Mart> >

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Whatsamatta, you don't like economic conservatives? d8-)

Yup. But Clinton was not just listening to his advisors. In fact, he often didn't follow the programs suggested by Robert Reich, even though he valued Reich's economic expertise.

And it's a good thing Jimmy Carter was a smart guy who knew enough about economics to recognize that he needed to deep-six the entire Democratic economic philosophy. When he put Paul Volcker in charge, and Volcker started squeezing the economy to wring out the inflation, the Dems were screaming bloody murder. But Volcker was right; Reagan kept him on to finish the job; and he broke the back of inflation. Any Dem who was as clueless as Bush is would have kept following his party's doctrine until the country imploded. In fact, Bush almost did that himself -- and still might.

It's such a pleasure to be able to forget about him now. The damage has been done, and we'll be looking to others to try to undo it. It perks up my whole day.

-- Ed Huntress

On Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:17:02 -0500, the infamous "Martin H. Eastburn" scrolled the following:

From the Decorative Uses section of the link you provided:

"The most popularly known use of cinnabar is in Chinese carved lacquerware, a technique that apparently originated in the Song Dynasty.[10] The danger of mercury poisoning may be reduced in ancient lacquerware by entraining the powdered pigment in lacquer,[11] but could still pose an environmental hazard if the pieces were accidentally destroyed. In the modern jewelry industry, the toxic pigment is replaced by a resin-based polymer that approximates the appearance of pigmented lacquer."

More likely red resin-based polymer.

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