Made In Mexico Blue And White Glazed Ceramic Plate: 95,000 ppm Lead. [For context; 90 ppm Lead is unsafe in kids’ toys.]

When I was visiting New Orleans in May of 2014, I tested this blue and white glazed “Made in Mexico” ceramic plate with an XRF instrument, and it had the following reading:

• Lead (Pb): 95,000 ppm

95,000 ppm Lead is the same as 9.5% Lead in the glaze.

For context, the amount of Lead that is considered unsafe in a newly manufactured item intended for use by children is anything 90 ppm Lead or higher in the paint, glaze, or other coating – or anything 100 ppm Lead or higher in the substrate (in an item like this, the substrate is the underlying bare ceramic base material below the decorative glaze).

[Dishware is not regulated in the same way as an item explicitly intended for children (unless it is both recently manufactured dishware and has been expressly made and marketed for use by children).]

Unfortunately, in all my testing to date, I have found that Mexican pottery almost always has very high Lead content in the glaze; it’s a rare exception that this is not the case.

• To see more examples of items from Mexico that I have tested, click here.
• To see more glazed ceramic items I have tested, click here.
• To read more about the concern for Lead in dishware, click here.
• For safer choices for your family (specifically the type of dishes I use in my home and my guidelines for purchasing dishware for your home) please start with THIS LINK.

Thank you for reading and for sharing my posts.

If you are interested in participating in the testing I do (and would like to send in some of your things for testing and reporting on this blog) please read THIS POST.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama