1995 Franciscan Desert Rose China, Made in England: 47,800 ppm Lead on the food surface! 90 is unsafe for a child.
When this Franciscan Desert Rose Pattern China (Made in the England by Johnson Brothers in 1995) was tested with an XRF instrument it came in at 47,800 +/- 1,400 ppm lead. It is negative for Cd (cadmium), As (arsenic) and Hg (mercury), however that is one heck of a lot of lead to be found in the glaze of a dish intended to be used for food.
What does this mean? Why is this number a problem?
For context; there is currently no federal standard for an allowable limit of XRF detectable lead in consumer goods like dishware. The only relevant federal standard for XRF detectable lead is in items manufactured for and intended to be used by children. The allowable limits for items intended for use by children are 90 ppm lead in the paint, glaze or coating and 100 ppm in the substrate (in the case of dishes, if they were children’s dishes, this would be the ceramic base of the dish, vs. the glaze.) Dishes are not considered by the industry to be “items intended for use by children” unless they are expressly sold and marketed as a baby dish set. ???Because children don’t use dishes? !!!
It is the intention of my work that there will eventually be a standard set for XRF detectable allowable limits of Lead in dishware and that it will be equal to (or more stringent than) the limits set for items intended for use by children. There is no logical reasoning that could be used to justify “allowable” limits for Lead in dishware that are higher than the amount of Lead allowed in children’s items. Children use dishes too, and that should be a good enough reason to mandate stricter regulations (for both new and vintage / antique goods.)
Is all Franciscan china toxic?
Pretty much, yes.
Franciscan China is generally (and consistently) VERY high lead, regardless of the year made, country of manufacture, or pattern. I highly recommend not having any in your home and if you do have some in your home that not ever use it for any food use purposes.
If you want to keep one piece of your Franciscan china on hand to remind you of your grandmother (or of a time gone by!) please consider putting it in a shadow box with a glass cover and please hide a note behind the dish (in case anyone ever breaks the dish out of the shadow box) that the item is high lead and should not be used for food consumption purposes.
Hands should also be thoroughly washed after handling these dishes as they most often also test positive with a reactive agent test (like a LeadCheck swab), which means there is likely available lead on the surface of the dish and that can easily wear off on your hands.
Continue reading below the image.
Note: Most Johnson Brothers china is also very high lead. Please click here to see more examples of Johnson Brothers china that I have tested.
Can you tell me more about the testing you did on this Franciscan China?
Here’s the full XRF reading set for the dish pictured:
- Lead (Pb): 47,800 +/- 1,400 ppm
- Barium (Ba): 559 +/- 98 ppm
- Antimony (Sb): 342 +/- 40 ppm
- Tin (Sn): 1,078 +/- 65 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 146 +/- 36 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 1,014 +/- 206 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): 1,531 +/- 113 ppm
- Vanadium (V): 582 +/- 68 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 1,150 +/- 114 ppm
XRF test results are science-based and replicable. Items tested for this blog have been tested in “Consumer Goods” mode using a Niton XRF XL3T instrument that gives readings in Parts Per Million (ppm). Tests are done for a minimum of 60 seconds unless otherwise noted.
To learn more about XRF testing, click here.
MOST dishes (from other brands) will NOT test positive with a LeadCheck swab, but the handmade and handprinted Franciscan brand dishes are one of the main brands that consistently does test positive with this testing method. [Read more here: Can I test my dishes with a LeadCheck swab?]
How do you decide what to test and report on here on your blog?
I love testing specific items that people want me to test and in order to do that need contributions to cover the cost of purchasing these items (as well as to cover the costs related to testing these items.)
If you want to support my independent consumer goods testing and lead poisoning prevention advocacy work, please consider chipping in something (any amount helps) at this link.
IF you want me to test a specific item that will cost me less than $25 to purchase, please chip in at least $45 and send me a note about what you would like me to test and I will see if I can find it (there are a lot of antique shops on the blocks surrounding my home) and after I am able to test it (it sometimes takes me between 4 and 8 weeks to have items tested] I will post the test results here on my blog to share with everyone.
If the item turns out to be lead-free I can either offer it as a prize for a free giveaway on Facebook or send it to you (if you can also cover shipping.) If the item is leaded and is a popular and known brand I would love to be able to hold onto it for my “Museum of Lead” (and to use in my upcoming book!)
As always, please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you for reading and for sharing my posts.
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Thank you for all you do!!!! My in-laws have these dishes and we have all been eating off of them for years!! They are of course getting rid of them now.
That’s a shame. I’ve had my Desert Rose dishes for almost 30 years without a problem and now have my grandparents’ Fresh Fruit pattern that they used for decades.
Dear Lead mother, My grandmother had a very large set of Francican Desert Rose. She pulled it out and set the table with it only on special occasions. We did not use this set for everyday. My sister has this colorful set now and uses it for everyday, I told her that they probably will leach lead when heated up. However they are so old that probably they are all leached out.
Years ago prior to the 1960s lead was put in glazes to maintain bright colors to get through the kiln. The firing process often turns glazes brown. I was an art major somI have seen this first hand. It was often disappointing to have my beautiful brown and earthenware glazes burnt in the kiln. Lead was removed by most American glazes and paint in the 1960s.
Rev. C. Draeger
Lead was not removed in the 1960s. Here’s test results for a 2023 dish purchased from Williams Sonoma:
https://tamararubin.com/2023/05/last-year-i-called-williams-sonoma-out-yet-again-for-making-selling-lead-contaminated-dishes-in-2022-their-solution-for-2023-just-slap-a-big-ol-sticker-on-the-back/
I have my mom’s china from a company called National China. I am assuming that since my parents got married in 1941 these dishes contain lead. I also have the Franciscan china as well as the vintage Corelle china that was my aunt’s. All of these you named as having high levels of lead. I had thought about selling the Franciscan china on Ebay, but now that I know it contains lead I don’t feel comfortable selling them. I am trying to downsize my dishes and other things. On top of the dishes, I have pots, bowls, etc that were my parents that probably also have lead. I don’t have much space to store all these items. What can I do with these? Is there someone that buys them but uses them for decoration?
I am so glad I came across your website! I am a breast cancer survivor so I am trying to keep my house toxin free. This will be a start.
I grew up eating off this and I now have quite a bit of it even though I don’t use it often. I’m 77 and not dead from lead. As usual everything is blown up to alarm.
It doesn’t cause death. It causes many other health impairments. Please read this:
https://tamararubin.com/2017/01/what-is-the-impact-of-lead-poisoning-in-adults-including-college-age-students/
And This:
https://tamararubin.com/topics/does-vintage-and-new-functional-pottery-and-dishware-have-unsafe-levels-of-lead/
And this:
https://tamararubin.com/2020/05/i-dont-do-what-i-do-to-spread-fear-i-do-what-i-do-to-educate-so-you-can-make-informed-choices-for-your-family/
Let me know if you have questions.
Tamara
The newer Franciscan apple pattern is not hand painted, dishwasher safe & made in England. Does it have the same lead problem as the hand painted? I inherited the h and painted from my mother-in-law & filled in with the new ones. Now I am worried about both.
I have never tested Franciscan that was safe (from a Lead perspective) and I have tested hundreds (if not thousands) of examples.
Tamara
After reading this post, and handful more corroborating it, I panicked and bought a pair of lead testing pens from Amazon. I ran them over both versions of the Franciscan china I own (England-made and California-made) and both pens showed absolutely no sign of lead. I suppose the test kit could be faulty, but I’m encouraged that my dishes do not, in fact, contain objectionable levels of lead.
She uses XRF technology to check for lead and other metals. The pens don’t always work for dishes. She says this on another part of her website.
I am getting rid of all my Franciscan dishes, I am very sad about it, but it needs to be done. Thank you for your work and letting people know.
My Franciscan Desert Rose dishes have gone through the dish washer a lot. What can I do to clean my dishwasher and cabinets where they were stored with with other dishes?
For inside the cabinets, use clorox or lysol wipes. She has a video on here showing how to clean an area where lead dust is. You might can put “lysol wipes” in the search bar to find it.
I have an opportunity to purchase a 53 piece of Desert Rose this week. It’s from a lady I trust.
I truly believe all the lead articles I read.
If I buy it, I would use clear glass plates on top or should I just forget my dream of Desert Rose?
Thanks and open to replies. No comment will anger me. I asked for your advice.