c. 1967-1976 Royal Doulton Bunnykins Baby Bowl: 61,800 ppm Lead on the FOOD surface (90 is unsafe for kids)
Published: December 7, 2018
Updated: September 2022
What’s frankly terrifying about this bowl is how much paint has worn off of the decoration on the inside food surface. Take a good look at the image below (you can click on it for a full resolution image).
To see more Bunnykins sets I have tested, click HERE.
I have not yet tested a Bunnykins set that was Lead-free (or even Lead-safe) so I recommend avoiding them altogether.
Continue reading below the images.
Royal Doulton English Fine Bone China Bunnykins Baby Bowl, year unknown:
61,800 ppm Lead on the FOOD surface
For context, the amount of Lead considered unsafe on a newly manufactured item (made today) intended for use by children is anything 90 ppm Lead or higher in the paint, glaze, or coating. The bowl pictured here has 61,800 ppm, which is nearly 700 times the level that is considered unsafe. As a result, this particular bowl would actually be considered illegal by current standards (if manufactured today). HOWEVER, because it is considered vintage/ nearly an “antique,” it is not regulated at all and can be sold on eBay (or similar) with absolutely no Lead warning.
Here’s a link to a site that helps date these pieces (and an extra link, too)! <<<<<< Based on these links, this piece was most likely manufactured between 1967 and 1976!
To continue reading (and see the exact toxicity test results on this piece via XRF technology) please scroll down.
Continue reading below the image.
This bowl had the following specific readings when tested with an XRF instrument:
Reading #1) Inside (food surface) of the bowl:
- Lead (Pb): 61,800 +/- 1,900 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): 44 +/- 16 ppm
- Mercury (Hg): Non-Detect / Negative
- Arsenic (As): Non-Detect / Negative
- Antimony (Sb): 161 +/-39 ppm
- Barium (Ba): Non-Detect / Negative
- Chromium (Cr): 1,895 +/- 170 ppm
- Tin (Sn): 284 +/- 38 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 1,798 +/- 122 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 3,825 +/- 361 ppm
- Vandium (V): Non-Detect / Negative
- Titanium (Ti): 779 +/- 105 ppm
- Platinum (Pt): Non-Detect / Negative
- Cobalt (Co): 581 +/- 152 ppm
Reading #2) Outside (non-food-surface) of the bowl:
- Lead (Pb): 62,900 +/- 1,900ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): Non-Detect / Negative
- Mercury (Hg): Non-Detect / Negative
- Arsenic (As): Non-Detect / Negative
- Antimony (Sb): Non-Detect / Negative
- Chromium (Cr): Non-Detect / Negative
- Tin (Sn): Non-Detect / Negative
- Zinc (Zn): 76 +/- 33 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 1,257 +/- 227 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): Non-Detect / Negative
- Vandium (V): 129 +/- 41 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 231 +/- 60 ppm
- Platinum (Pt): Non-Detect / Negative
- Cobalt (Co): Non-Detect / Negative
Learn more about XRF instruments and XRF testing here and here.
For safer choices for your family, please check out THIS post and THIS post!
#SimpleSolution: Frame this in a shadow box with a note on the back about how you came to have it (who gave it to you) and a note on the inside of the shadow box warning anyone who opens the box that it is high Lead and should not be used for food-use purposes. Hang your shadow box on the wall. It’s a lovely piece of art, actually!
These are available for sale on Amazon* (LINK) but I encourage you NOT to purchase these as I have never tested a set that was either Lead-safe or Lead-free.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you for reading and for sharing this work!
Tamara Rubin
Owner — Lead Safe Mama, LLC
#LeadSafeMama
For those new to this 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 sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005). Since 2009, Tamara has been using XRF technology (a scientific method used by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission) to test consumer goods for toxicants (specifically heavy metals — including Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Antimony, and Arsenic). All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable. Items are tested multiple times to confirm the test results for each component tested. Tamara’s work was featured in Consumer Reports Magazine in February of 2023 (March 2023 print edition).
Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase something on Amazon after clicking on one of OUR links, LEAD SAFE MAMA, llc may receive a small percentage of what you spend at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting our advocacy work in this way. 
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I feel sick to my stomach, yet grateful for your work. I have these dishes, they were mine as a child and now I have been using them to serve food to my 4 and 2 year old. So so so upsetting. 🙁 Thank you for raising awareness.
hi i have two pieces, one peter rabbit egg cup holder and one bowl that is winnie the pooh, they are both marked made in china in 2001 are these safe please, I have a new grandbaby on the way
Do you know if the modern ones are also unsafe? My grandmother bought these for my kids born between 2007 and 2018.
Hi Hilary – 2018 is probably safe, 2007 is probably unsafe. I would not trust anything made before 2011 to be Lead-free or appropriate for children (when talking about ceramics.)
Thank you for commenting.
Tamara
Oh dear, my baby has been using these at his grandmas for the last 2 months … do you know how likely it would be that the lead seeps into the food?
Hi Kathryn,
If this is a vintage piece (being used by your baby) I would be quite concerned if a baby has been using this on a regular basis for food use purposes. I would stop using it immediately and get a blood lead level test right away if possible as it is important to know the highest possible level that a child might have had (to help with assessment of possible long term implications.)
Given what I have seen in terms of the wear on these dishes I expect the likelihood that the lead may leach into the food with normal use is very high.
You can read more about blood lead testing here:https://tamararubin.com/2019/02/blood-lead-testing-please-get-everyone-in-the-family-tested-since-you-have-been-living-in-a-house-with-high-lead-paint/
Tamara
P.S. Kathryn – I checked out your website, you may also be very interested to read this post (from a professional standpoint): https://tamararubin.com/2019/07/today-is-my-youngest-sons-11th-birthday-happy-birthday-charlie-parker-eliezer-rubin-the-story-of-how-lead-impacted-his-birth/
Tamara
I have willow dishes that are microwave and dishwasher safe. Are they lead free?
Also have Thomas dishes, an arm of Rosenthal, they r made in Germany- wedding gift in 1976. Do I get rid of them all?
My kids are now older but I was doing a photo shoot for my company the other day using my stainless steel utensils. I came across my vintage version of this bowl and considered using it in the photo shoot. My kids definitely ate off of this bowl when visiting my parents, and I used it as a child too. Thank goodness I thought of your website and just assumed the bowl was likely not safe. I chose a non-toxic option instead, to go with my non-toxic stainless steel flatware. Now I know for certain that I made the right choice. Phew.
Oh no! I have one of these dishes–I bought it as a non-plastic dish I loved to serve on for my children. Ugh I had no idea. Thank you.