TOPICAL READING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9678, 30 December 1909, Page 4

TOPICAL READING.

L T SE OF WHITE LEAD PROHIBITED. ! A ccn'es'oondenfc has directed our attention to ;a recent enactment in France under which, after the expiration of live years, white lead, or oaint composed of linseed oil and white 2ead, will be prohibited for every description of painting work. Ibis is a drastic measure made in the interests of wors people who, in Francs, have been subjected to terrible ravages of disease caused by the noxious fumes and unhealthy properties of lead. Whether the abolition of the use of white lead in paid will be followed by other Etfro-pean countries has yet to be seen. Id mvj case, it is (says the Hardware Trade Journal) a question \vhi:cb may well be ventilated in the interests of the health of workmen .and others. Atone time it would j have been almost impossible to have done without white lead, but the i difficulties would not be so great i nowadays as formerly, fur the use of I sine oxide, so much used in paint, has, of course, altered the position j of white lead aa the main ingredjent. The cftief constituent in white enamel, employed for decorative ! purposes, both for metal and wood, is now zinc oxide, a chemical compound which, although more expen- ! sive- febaw white lead, is nr.ich lighj tar, and covers a larger ar?a than ' paint, thus equalising the additional I cost oi its use.