Threshold by Target (Made in Portugal) glazed terracotta appetizer dish: 4,000 ppm Lead (90 is unsafe for kids)

 

    

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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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This ceramic “Threshold” brand (made in Portugal, for Target) terracotta appetizer/ olive/ salsa dish was positive for Lead at levels as high as 4,000 parts per million (ppm) when tested with an XRF instrument in 2018. 

This is remarkable (and a good example to share), because it is important to make the distinction between the plain white ceramic Threshold pieces and ones like this, which have an orange-y terracotta base and are coated in a thicker white glaze.

The plain white Threshold pieces (with a white ceramic base) have consistently tested negative for Lead (non-detect/ Lead-free) or Lead-safe (below 90 ppm Lead); however, I was not surprised when this piece tested positive — for three reasons:

#1) most “Made In Portugal” items I have tested have been positive for at least some amount of Lead in the glaze, and

#2) even newly-manufactured items — that have this “handmade” look (vs. the more common “mass-manufactured”/ “refined polish” look of the white china  or ceramic Threshold items) — are more likely to test positive for Lead, and

#3) while terra-cotta style base clay can be Lead-free (or low-Lead), most glazed terracotta pieces I have tested (regardless of the country of origin) have been positive for Lead in the glaze (usually at very high levels). A good example of items like this that are consistently high-Lead are glazed terra-cotta planters (that you might buy at a typical gardening store).

To see a video where I tested Threshold items from Target (in the store, on shelves — so brand new/ never used items), CLICK HERE.

To see more “Made in Portugal” items Lead Safe Mama has tested, CLICK HERE.

It’s also a myth that “plain white items are less likely to test positive for Lead.” Plain white can be as high-Lead (and sometimes even higher Lead) than some decorated items — “Lead White” is an actual commercial base-color for pigments. To see more white ceramic items I have tested, CLICK HERE.

Levels above 90 ppm Lead (in the paint, glaze, or coating of an item) are considered unsafe (and illegal) in newly-manufactured items intended for use by children. Dishes however, are not regulated for total Lead content as detectable with an XRF instrument, and as such, are not considered illegal in any way when high in Lead levels. (Dishes are generally not considered “items intended for use by children” unless they are dishes specifically made and sold as “infant” dishes, “toddler “dishes, or similar.)

Thank you for reading and sharing these articles and results.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama