CorningWare 3-Quart Casserole Dish: 29,900 ppm Lead + 602 ppm Cadmium (90 ppm Lead is considered unsafe for kids)
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).
![Corningware 3-Quart Casserole Dish with Floral Pattern: 29,900 ppm Lead + 602 ppm Cadmium [For context, 90 ppm Lead is considered unsafe in items for kids.]](https://tamararubin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Corning-Ware-Vintage-Floral-Casserole-Lead-Safe-Mama-1.jpg)
When tested with an XRF instrument, this 3-quart CorningWare casserole dish had the following reading set (taken on the painted floral pattern on the exterior of the dish):
- Lead (Pb): 29,700 +/- 800 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): 602 +/- 36 ppm
- Mercury (Hg): Non-Detect (ND)
- Barium (Ba): Non-Detect (ND)
- Chromium (Cr): Non-Detect (ND)
- Antimony (Sb): 95 +/- 31 ppm
- Selenium (Se): Non-Detect (ND)
- Bromine (Br): 106 +/- 12 ppm
The plain white interior of the dish (and of other dishes like this) is consistently negative for Lead and Cadmium.
There was no regulatory standard in place for total Lead content in decorative elements in cookware like this at the time it was manufactured (especially total Lead content as detectable with an XRF instrument).
For context, the amount of Lead considered unsafe in a newly manufactured item made today and intended to be used by children is anything that is positive for 90 ppm Lead or higher in the paint or coating. Again, this piece is positive for Lead at 29,700 ppm.
While these vintage casserole dishes have never been studied to determine whether or not they are possibly poisoning the user (or at least whether or not they are possibly contributing to background blood Lead levels for people who cook food in these vessels), they have also not been studied to confirm they are safe. With the levels of Lead being this high, I would never use one of these in my home. I would especially not use something like this for food-preparation purposes.
Click here to read Lead Safe Mama’s article about safer choices for casserole dishes.
To see more vintage CorningWare casserole dishes we have tested, click here.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you for reading and for sharing these results.
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
![Corningware 3-Quart Casserole Dish with Floral Pattern: 29,900 ppm Lead + 602 ppm Cadmium [For context, 90 ppm Lead is considered unsafe in items for kids.]](https://tamararubin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Corning-Ware-Vintage-Floral-Casserole-Lead-Safe-Mama-2.jpg)
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What about white corningware items that do not have any paint on them? Are these likely to be safe since it seems lead is only found in the painted decorations?
Hi Liz,
Yes that is correct. They are likely to be lead-free (or at least lead-safe/low-lead) if they are newer and have no painted decorations.
Tamara
What if they are older? I have a few items like this that were passed down to me and I don’t know how old they are. Trying to decide whether to keep or not.
I have the matching set of dishes and cups. are they safe? I inherited them about a week ago, and I love them…..but not more than my family
What about French White casseroles and Corelle dishes?
Hi Jody,
If you haven’t found examples on my blog after searching using keywords, I always recommend sending me an e-mail with a photo of the item you might have a question about.
Check out this page of my site first though: https://tamararubin.com/2018/01/a-new-idea-an-index-for-leadsafemama-com/
Thank you for commenting.
Tamara
Thank you so much for all your work…I really enjoy your research.
I understand that the decorative part is super high in lead, but I wonder if the lead in the decorative part of the cookware migrates or off gases somehow? I am thinking that maybe if the lid is on that the lead might not contaminate the food as readily. You know what would be fun? To investigate how much of the lead gets into the food. I wonder if we could test the pot then test some water, then pour the water into the corning ware to boil. Afterwords measure the water for lead? Seems like a fun idea. Oh hey where can I buy one of those meters….I would love to test my house. Again thank you so much….you are amazing.
this pattern is called wildflower.
we have it, and the matching corelle plates, bowls etc. I guess I’m getting rid of it now, but maybe if you update the post it will be easier for other owners of this pattern to find.
thank you for testing all the things!
Oh! Thank you so much for this information. I will definitely update the post!
Thank you for commenting liz!
Tamara
What about pyroceram stove top and boiler safe corningware dishes?
Hi thanks for this information! Have you tested the glass lids? If so what are your results?