Vintage Pyrex Clear Glass Double Boiler Cooking Pot.
I tested this with an XRF instrument and below am reporting two sets of readings for this piece.
First is the reading for the vessel of the pot. This is from a two-minute (12o second) reading using an XRF instrument. If a metal is not listed it was not detected.
- Lead (Pb): 216 +/- 14 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 519 +/- 98 ppm
- Vanadium (V): 77 +/- 14 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 103 +/- 18 ppm
- Zirconium (Zr): 3,315 +/- 64 ppm
- Platinium (Pt): 73 +/- 29 ppm
This is the reading for the handle of the pot:
- Titanium (Ti): 109 +/- 42 ppm
The metal elements are also negative for Lead.
I have personally owned several of these pieces. I bought them all before I knew they were positive for Lead. They were my favorite cooking pieces! Every single piece from this set (cooking pot, double boiler, coffee pot, tea pot) was also positive for Lead at comparable levels to the levels reported here on this post.
Continue reading below image.
With this particular pot pictured here I found it very interesting that the clear glass handle was NEGATIVE for Lead, but every single other area of the glass that was tested was positive for Lead. So making Lead free glass for this item was possible at the time of manufacture, but for some reason Pyrex chose not to do that. That would be an interesting mystery to figure out.
For context: the amount of Lead that is considered toxic in a newly manufactured item intended for use by children is 90 ppm Lead or higher in the paint or coating or 100 ppm Lead or higher in the substrate. Vintage and modern dishware are not regulated in the same way for Lead content detectable with an XRF instrument.
While I am fairly certain no one has done any leach testing on a vintage pot like this (to determine whether or not it is safe for daily use), I decided to stop using these pieces in my home once I found out they were positive for Lead. My educated guess is that at this low level of Lead they are likely not leaching Lead in any detectible levels, but for me it’s still not worth the risk and also not worth spending the money on leach testing.
I generally use stainless steel for boiling water (including for tea and coffee) and for cooking pasta. This is a good inexpensive but durable (and Lead-free) brand (we have a few pieces from this brand in our home): https://amzn.to/2ALS1zJ
As always please let know if you have any questions.
Thank you for reading and for sharing my posts.
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking on one of my links I may receive a small percentage of what you spend at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my advocacy work in this way.
billie waits says
What about my pyrex bowls
Tamara says
Hi Billie!
Thank you for commenting. I have tons of examples of vintage Pyrex on the site… bowls, cups, casseroles and more. Here’s a link to the Vintage Pyrex category so you can scroll through all of the related posts: https://tamararubin.com/category/vintage-pyrex/
Tamara
Linda says
Does it matter if the bowls are used to prepare food that is cold vrs hot? Is it assumed or proven that the lead/arsenic is consumed by using these items or only if a chip of the paint or plastic is consumed?
Jemma says
Hi! Did you test the 50s flameware teapots? It looks similar to this.
Tamara says
I don’t know – I’d have to see a photo. You can link a photo in a comment here or email me one: TamaraRubin@mac.com
Thanks for commenting.
Candy Eve says
I believe the pot in the photo is the top half of the FlameWare double boiler (Pyrex)… Most likely ALL FlameWare is the same “glass”. I collected it. I used the coffee pot for a few years, and switched to a Keurig which I still use. I hope the Keurig plastics and rubber hoses are not as unhealthy. I drink about 3 cups a day… I am 70 and take all kinds of vitamins and herbs, organic food, unbleached flour, no restaurant or fast food…. And organic coffee!!! Hopefully clearing my house of lead things I don’t even use is good enough. I need my Keurig!!! ❤
Rose says
Hi there! I stumbled across this while trying to research if the pyrex flameware I just found at goodwill is ok. Here is a link to what I found with a lot of info about it…. at least I think this is what I found at goodwill. It is branded with the uppercase PYREX logo (also says “flameware” on it) and has a blue tint. . https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/122290 .
Thanks so much, all the info you post is very helpful! We just recently started to consider how toxic all of our cookware is and doing a big overhaul, we’re people with old scratched teflon, after all of our research I’m feeling pretty gross about that!
Rose says
Oh, I just found more info about the composition of the ‘Flameware’ on wikipedia: “In the late 1930s and 1940s, Corning also introduced other products under the Pyrex brand, including opaque tempered soda-lime glass for bowls and bakeware, and a line of Pyrex Flameware for stovetop use; this aluminosilicate glass had a bluish tint caused by the addition of alumino-sulfate.” if that helps.
Dena says
I have this pot and have used it fairly frequently for pasta and rice. I was mistaken thinking that the lead was in the decorative paint, however, this item does not have any paint. I’m enlightened. Out it goes!
T-dot33 says
I just learned about your tests recently from a Facebook post. Thank you for performing these tests and sharing the results!
I know some herbalists uses these glass double boilers to for their products! I shall share with them your findings and let them make their decisions.
In the meantime, I need to cull my Corelle dishwares – unfortunately!
All the Best! Stay healthy!
Hannah says
The link to the brand you recommend of stainless steel isn’t working and you never said which brand you were talking about? Can you update the link or add the name of the brand please? Want to get brands I know have tested safe! Thank you!
Paula says
I copied and pasted her link to the safe pans, and it worked. It went to a Cuisinart set. Try that? I’ll paste it here, too… copied the one that opened for me.
https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-77-7-Classic-Stainless-Cookware/dp/B00008CM67/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1547439390&sr=8-4&keywords=cuisinart+cooking+pot&linkCode=sl1&tag=auntie07-20&linkId=af18159780b29c1fbffeeb14ed6a951c&language=en_US
Lynne Garrison says
Hello! Are there ANY glass coffee pots that are safe ? (I miss my glass tea pot…)
lindsay boychuk says
Hi, could you please let me know what stainless steel pots you do you as the Amazon link is not working!
Thank-you