arsenic in fire brick?

[kenwylie]

I would like to build a pizza oven in my backyard someday.  Are their any issues with poisonous substances such as arsenic coming out into the food when using fire brick? 

[champignon]

I would like to build a pizza oven in my backyard someday.  Are their any issues with poisonous substances such as arsenic coming out into the food when using fire brick?

There was a forum member who reportedly had a kid with 3 eyes; you can do a search for it.

[pondrous]

Sorry to bump this but I was asking the same question today. And jokes aside, there's a good write-up on why fire bricks are likely safe here:

https://digitalfire.com/article/toxicity+of+firebricks+used+in+ovens

For toxic metals to be leached into food or drink they need to be present and loosely bound in the crystal or glass matrix of the ceramic. Where complete melting has occurred there is a better chance that metals are a secure part of the matrix but only if the glass has a balanced chemistry and is not itself toxic (e.g. lead glass). However in the case of fire bricks, very little if any glass development has happened, only sintering (the bonding of the matrix by changes in the mineralogy (and therefore shape, size and surface) of particles associated with the heat treatment). Most toxic metals are also fluxes, (e.g. barium, lead) or colorants (e.g. cobalt, manganese) and many are both (e.g. cadmium, selenium). These are thus not desired in firebrick since they impede its performance. In theory a typical brick should be on no more concern than the average rock, the kiln is basically a device to create metamorphic square rocks!