Fuller's earth

Fuller's earth

Fuller's earth is any non-plastic clay or claylike earthy material used to decolorize, filter, and purify animal, mineral, and vegetable oils and greases.

Contents

Occurrence and composition

Output of fuller's earth in 2005

In 2005, the United States was the largest producer of fuller's earth with an almost 70% world share followed at a distance by Japan and Mexico.

Fuller's earth usually has a high magnesium oxide content. In the United States, two varieties of fuller's earth are mined, mainly in the southeastern states. These comprise the minerals montmorillonite or palygorskite (attapulgite) or a mixture of the two; some of the other minerals that may be present in fuller's earth deposits are calcite, dolomite, and quartz.

In England, fuller's earth occurs mainly in the Lower Greensand. It has also been mined in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. The Combe Hay Mine was a fuller's earth mine operating to the south of Bath, Somerset until 1979.[1] Other sites south of Bath included Frome, Lonsdale, Englishcombe Tucking Mill and Duncorn Hill.[2] Although these sites had been used since Roman times William Smith developed new methods for the identification of deposits of Fuller's earth to the south of Bath.[3] Other English sources include a mine near Redhill, Surrey (worked until 2000), and Woburn, Bedfordshire, where production ceased in 2004.

In some countries calcium bentonite is known as fuller's earth, a term that can also refer to attapulgite, a mineralogically distinct clay mineral that exhibits similar properties.

Hills, cliffs, and slopes that contain fuller's earth can be unstable, since this material can be thixotropic, when saturated by heavy rainfall.

Uses

The name reflects the first use of the material. In past centuries, fullers kneaded fuller's earth and water into woollen cloth to absorb lanolin, oils, and other greasy impurities as part of the cloth finishing process. Similarly, it has been used as an ingredient in powdered, "dry" shampoos. Fuller's earth was also sold in pharmacies until recently for compressing pills and cleaning hats and fabrics.[4]

Important uses are in absorbents and filters. Because of this, it is used (with activated charcoal) in the treatment of paraquat overdose to prevent the progression to pulmonary fibrosis. Fuller's earth is also used by military and civil emergency service personnel to decontaminate the clothing and equipment of soldiers and CBRN (Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear) responders who have been contaminated with chemical agents.[5]

Fuller's earth was a key ingredient in the special effects process developed to simulate the tornado in the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz.

See also

References

  1. ^ A. B. Hawkins, M. S. Lawrence and K. D. Privett (September 1986). "Clay Mineralogy and Plasticity of the Fuller's Earth Formation Bath, UK". Clay Minerals (The Mineralogical Society) 21 (3): 293–310. doi:10.1180/claymin.1986.021.3.04. http://www.minersoc.org/pages/Archive-CM/Volume_21/21-3-293.pdf. Retrieved 2009-09-05. 
  2. ^ Mineral statistics of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1855, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nr8MAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA148 
  3. ^ Macmillen, Neil (2009). A history of the Fuller's Earth mining industry around Bath. Lydney: Lightmoor Press. pp. 9. ISBN 9781899889327. 
  4. ^ Gray Cross Prescription Purity Fuller's Earth "Uses: Used for cleaning hats and fabrics" Rabin Company, Los Angeles, USA, circa 1958
  5. ^ Survive to Fight, British Army CBRN Publication, 2008
  • British Geological Survey, Mineral Fact Sheet: Fuller's Earth [1] (accessed 7 August 2009).
  • "fuller's earth". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2006. 9035638. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9035638. Retrieved 2006-11-02. 
  • Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford U P, 1989.


Further reading

  • Brady, G.S., Clauser, H.R., & Vaccari, J.A. (2002). Materials handbook. (15th ed.) New York: McGraw-Hill.
  • Hosterman, J.W. and S.H. Patterson. (1992). Bentonite and Fuller's earth resources of the United States [U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1522]. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office.

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Fuller's earth — Fuller Full er, n. [AS. fullere, fr. L. fullo. See {Full}, v. t.] One whose occupation is to full cloth. [1913 Webster] {Fuller s earth}, a variety of clay, used in scouring and cleansing cloth, to imbibe grease. {Fuller s herb} (Bot.), the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • fuller's earth — n. a highly absorbent, opaque clay used to remove grease from woolen cloth in fulling, to clarify fats and oils, etc …   English World dictionary

  • fuller's earth — an absorbent clay, used esp. for removing grease from fabrics, in fulling cloth, as a filter, and as a dusting powder. [1515 25] * * * ▪ clay       any fine grained, naturally occurring earthy substance that has a substantial ability to adsorb… …   Universalium

  • fuller's earth — balinančiosios žemės statusas T sritis chemija apibrėžtis Gamtinės medžiagos, (pvz., molis) gebančios adsorbuoti priemaišas ir išgryninti kitas medžiagas. atitikmenys: angl. bleaching earth; fuller s earth rus. отбеливающие земли …   Chemijos terminų aiškinamasis žodynas

  • fuller's earth — noun /ˌfʊləz ˈɜːθ/ A fine clay used in fulling cloth. , 1785, On Lord Sunderlands estate, in the county of Westmeath, there is a fine strata of fuller’s earth, a commodity of which our woollen manufacturers stand much in need: yet this bed lies… …   Wiktionary

  • fuller's earth — an impure aluminum silicate, consisting mainly of attapulgite, having decolorizing and purifying properties. See also fuller s earth pneumoconiosis, under pneumoconiosis …   Medical dictionary

  • fuller's earth pneumoconiosis — a rare type of silicatosis caused by inhalation of the dust of fuller s earth, seen in workers with long term heavy exposure …   Medical dictionary

  • fuller's earth — ful|ler s earth [ˌfuləz ˈə:θ US ərz ˈə:rθ] n [U] dried clay made into a powder that is used to clean cloth or oil …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • fuller's earth — ful|ler s earth [ fulərz ,ɜrθ ] noun uncount a type of clay used for making liquids clearer or removing oil from cloth …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • fuller's earth — ful′ler s earth′ n. clo an absorbent clay, used esp. for removing grease from fabrics, in fulling cloth, as a filter, and as a dusting powder …   From formal English to slang

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