#Leaded: Purple Waechtersbach German Nesting Bowl, c. 2011
Purple Waechtersbach bowl from Williams Sonoma
Made in Germany, c. 2011
To see more Waechtersbach pieces Lead Safe Mama has tested, click here.
For those new to the Lead Safe Mama website:
Tamara Rubin is a multiple-federal-award-winning independent advocate for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety, and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children (two of her four sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005).
- Tamara owns and runs Lead Safe Mama, LLC — a unique community collaborative woman-owned small business for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety.
- Since July of 2022, the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC has been responsible for five product recalls (FDA and CPSC).
- All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable.
- Please check out our press page to see some of the amazing coverage of our work so far this year!
When tested with an XRF instrument, this bowl had the following readings:
- Lead (Pb): 2,719 +/- 167 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): Non-Detect/ Negative
- Mercury (Hg): Non-Detect/ Negative
- Arsenic (As): Non-Detect/ Negative
- Barium (Ba): 31,200 +/- 1,200 ppm
- Chromium (Cr): 952 +/- 348 ppm
- Antimony (Sb): Non-Detect/ Negative
- Selenium (Se): Non-Detect/ Negative
To learn more about XRF testing, click here.
Modern newly manufactured dishware today is not regulated for total Lead content as detectable with an XRF instrument. Instead, it is usually regulated to meet leach testing standards at the time of manufacture.
My concern is for what happens to a highly Leaded piece as it deteriorates over time, especially pieces like this that are very high Lead but also considered heirloom quality and are pieces that may be handed down from generation to generation (and may indeed become very well-worn over time).
To read more about my concern for Lead in pottery and dishware, click here.
The only standard that one can compare these XRF test results to (comparing apples to apples) is the regulatory standard for Lead in items specifically designed and marketed as intended for use by children.
The allowable limit for Lead (as detectable with an XRF) in an item intended for use by children (including toys and dishware made expressly for children’s use) is 90 ppm Lead in the glaze or coating and/or 100 ppm Lead in the substrate (the clay under the glaze).
To reiterate, the Lead level in this particular purple bowl is 2,719 ppm.
If this bowl were intended for use by children it would be a violation of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008. However, this particular item is not sold or marketed to be used by children, even though one could imagine that with the bright colors of this line it is highly likely the bowl might be used by children on a regular basis! In fact, I once visited a home where this brand of bowl was expressly used for feeding the children in that home — because of the bright colors!
Can you say #RegulatoryLoophole?
All products I have ever tested by this brand have been VERY HIGH in Lead when tested with an XRF instrument.
For curiosity’s sake only (not to purchase them!), you can see more pieces from this brand on Amazon by clicking here.*
As always, thank you for reading and sharing this work.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
*Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking on one of these links, Lead Safe Mama, LLC may receive a small percentage of what you spend at no extra cost to you. WHILE I DON’T WANT YOU TO BUY PRODUCTS FROM THIS PARTICULAR BRAND, I do encourage you to click on the Amazon link to see the other pieces from this brand that you might want to AVOID. Thank you for supporting our advocacy work in this way!
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