Black Glazed Stoneware Bowl from Target’s Hearth & Hand With Magnolia by Chip & Joanna Gaines: 27 ppm Lead (Lead-safe)

    

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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!

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Black Glazed Stoneware Bowl From Target’s Hearth & Hand With Magnolia Line by Chip & Joanna Gaines

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I had recently tested some small Pioneer Woman ceramic bowls and found them to be positive for Lead (Pb). As a result, I started looking out for other kitchen products with celebrity names attached to test for potential toxicants and came across the Hearth & Hand with Magnolia line (for Target) by Chip & Joanna Gaines. Since the Hearth & Hand line had several small ceramic bowls similar to the ones from Pioneer Woman (and other products that might test positive for Lead), I decided to order a few products from this line (direct from Target) — with some help from my readers — so I could test them for Lead myself.

Related: #AskTamara: What do you use to test for Lead?

In scrolling through the Hearth & Hand with Magnolia products on Target’s website, I saw several items that would be good candidates to test with an XRF instrument — as my experience (testing similar items made of the same or similar materials by other companies) suggested they might test positive for Lead.

While I always hope these products end up being Lead-free, I have tested enough products that I have found to unexpectedly have Lead (even a few that were/are marketed and sold as “Lead-Free!”) that I never really trust any product will truly be Lead-free without doing some actual testing myself.

The XRF test results for the small black bowl pictured here were as follows (each test was completed for at least 60 seconds and multiple tests were conducted on each component to confirm the levels):

Black Glazed Portion of Bowl:

• Lead (Pb): Non-Detect (ND) / Negative
• Cadmium (Cd): Non-Detect (ND) / Negative
• Arsenic (As): Non-Detect (ND) / Negative
• Mercury (Hg): Non-Detect (ND) / Negative
• Barium (Ba): 5,433 +/- 194 ppm
• Chromium (Cr): 6,077 +/- 256 ppm
• Antimony (Sb): Non-Detect (ND) / Negative
• Selenium (Se): Non-Detect (ND) / Negative
• Zinc (Zn): 11,800 +/- 400 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 115 +/- 50 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 12,100 +/- 500 ppm
• Vandium (V): 6,707 +/- 265 ppm
• Titanium (Ti): 14,000 +/- 500 ppm
• Zirconium (Zr): Non-Detect (ND) / Negative
• Cobalt (Co): 8,976 +/- 364 ppm
• Magnesium (Mn): Non-Detect (ND) / Negative

Unglazed Ceramic Bottom of Bowl:
We conducted multiple tests of the unglazed bottom of the bowl; some were positive for very low levels of Lead (as noted below) and some were completely negative. This is just one sample/ representative set of results from the bottom of the bowl.

• Lead (Pb): Non-Detect (ND) / Negative
• Lead (Pb): 27 +/- 12 ppm (Second Reading)
• Cadmium (Cd): Non-Detect (ND) / Negative
• Arsenic (As): Non-Detect (ND) / Negative
• Mercury (Hg): Non-Detect (ND) / Negative
• Barium (Ba): 1,494 +/- 76 ppm
• Chromium (Cr): Non-Detect (ND) / Negative
• Antimony (Sb): Non-Detect (ND) / Negative
• Selenium (Se): Non-Detect (ND) / Negative
• Zinc (Zn): 123 +/- 27 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 19,400 +/- 700 ppm
• Bismuth (Bi): 56 +/- 13 ppm
• Vanadium (V): Non-Detect (ND) / Negative
• Titanium (Ti): Non-Detect (ND) / Negative
• Magnesium (Mn): 2,107 +/- 326 ppm

So overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the levels on this bowl!

I was excited to find that the black glaze (which is consistently and thickly applied) is Lead-free (and free of other toxicants as well). This is the same as the green bowl also from this set (linked HERE).

I would give this product a “Grade A-,” and while given my own super-stringent “zero tolerance” policy (as a stand, I believe that while it isn’t necessarily always easy, it is definitely possible to achieve products that are consistently literally completely Lead-free) I might not choose to have a full set of these in my home, with “trace” readings as low as these, I would certainly regard these bowls as “Lead-safe” and would be comfortable eating off them if someone were to serve me food with them.

These bowls are actually super cute, too. I like this new trend of asymmetrical forming with new ceramic items (seemingly rough edges and wibbly sides that are molded and the same across all pieces).

I think it’s truly terrific that they obviously made an intentional effort to make sure the glazes are Lead-free. That doesn’t happen by accident!

As always, thank you for reading and sharing these articles.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama

To see more ceramic items Lead Safe Mama has tested for Lead, click here.

To read more about my concern for Lead in pottery and dishware, click here.