The regulations permit electrical equipment to have a maximum of 0.1 per cent of their weight as lead. Organ pipes have a lead content of 50 per cent or more. The directive, which seeks to minimise the amount of “hazardous waste” that finds its way into landfill after electrical products are scrapped, would also bring to an end the 1,000-year-old craft of organ building. In Britain there are about 70 companies employing about 800 people, and all their jobs are at risk. Lead is used in organ pipes because of its malleability and the distinctive sound it produces. Organists are baffled that they have been caught up in EU red tape because when organs are rebuilt the lead is not thrown away. It is re-used in new or different pipes. Katherine Venning, the president of the Institute of British Organ Building, said: “There is a very black cloud on the horizon. Pipe makers live to a ripe old age, with no known damage to their health. Pipe organs last indefinitely, and present no threat to the environment.” The Times 18/3/06.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Blow to organ pipes
THE ORGANS at Salisbury Cathedral, St Paul’s in London and Birmingham Town Hall may be silenced under an EU directive aimed at limiting the amount of lead in electrical items. 
The regulations permit electrical equipment to have a maximum of 0.1 per cent of their weight as lead. Organ pipes have a lead content of 50 per cent or more. The directive, which seeks to minimise the amount of “hazardous waste” that finds its way into landfill after electrical products are scrapped, would also bring to an end the 1,000-year-old craft of organ building. In Britain there are about 70 companies employing about 800 people, and all their jobs are at risk. Lead is used in organ pipes because of its malleability and the distinctive sound it produces. Organists are baffled that they have been caught up in EU red tape because when organs are rebuilt the lead is not thrown away. It is re-used in new or different pipes. Katherine Venning, the president of the Institute of British Organ Building, said: “There is a very black cloud on the horizon. Pipe makers live to a ripe old age, with no known damage to their health. Pipe organs last indefinitely, and present no threat to the environment.” The Times 18/3/06.
The regulations permit electrical equipment to have a maximum of 0.1 per cent of their weight as lead. Organ pipes have a lead content of 50 per cent or more. The directive, which seeks to minimise the amount of “hazardous waste” that finds its way into landfill after electrical products are scrapped, would also bring to an end the 1,000-year-old craft of organ building. In Britain there are about 70 companies employing about 800 people, and all their jobs are at risk. Lead is used in organ pipes because of its malleability and the distinctive sound it produces. Organists are baffled that they have been caught up in EU red tape because when organs are rebuilt the lead is not thrown away. It is re-used in new or different pipes. Katherine Venning, the president of the Institute of British Organ Building, said: “There is a very black cloud on the horizon. Pipe makers live to a ripe old age, with no known damage to their health. Pipe organs last indefinitely, and present no threat to the environment.” The Times 18/3/06.
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