This company (Sweese) is obviously doing an excellent job trying to create a completely Lead-free product… however the ceramic mug pictured here (a new mug purchased in 2019 from Sweese) simply is not Lead-FREE. I would classify this as “low-lead“, “almost ‘Lead-free’” , or even “Lead-SAFE” — and accordingly, instead of imprinting the bottom of the mug with “Lead-free” (see photo), which it simply, literally is not, the company should consider imprinting the bottom of their products with the words ”Lead-safe”.
Why is Sweese selling these products as “Lead-free” when they clearly contain Lead?
Unfortunately I see this a lot, and there is simply not enough time in the day for me to have one-on-one conversations with every single company that chooses to use this “Lead-free” language without doing thorough appropriate testing that could help them make that definite determination (using alternate testing methodologies in addition to the leach testing that is sadly the only current U.S. Federal standard in place for dishware).
When a company goes out of their way to mark their product as “Lead-FREE” and that product is a ceramic dishware or cookware product (mugs, casseroles, dishes, etc.) this labeling is – more-often-than-not – indicative of the fact that the company did two things that supported their claims / supported their [technically mistaken] understanding that the product they are manufacturing is “Lead-free”:
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- They did leach-testing on the product, and made sure it was not leaching any detectable Lead, given the limitations of leach-testing.
- They carefully sourced (or personally manufactured) their glazes and made sure that Lead was not a listed added ingredient in the glaze.
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Unfortunately, these actions simply do not 100% guarantee that an item (especially a ceramic item) is actually Lead-free. The testing done by 99.99999% of these companies does not include total content testing – using either laboratory digestive methods or XRF technology – and it is only with either (or both) of these methods that one can confirm that an item is literally Lead-free. Both the glaze and the substrate (the base ceramic of the item) need to be tested for total Lead content down to single digit parts per million (using lab testing or XRF technology) before a company can accurately make the claim that their product is Lead-free.
I do applaud Sweese for undertaking their obvious efforts to eliminate Lead from their manufacturing processes and supply chain, but I also implore them to change their labeling to the more accurate (and equally commendable) language of “Lead-safe”. In practice, it is nearly impossible to create a glazed ceramic product that is consistently actually Lead-free (for example I have not yet found a mug manufacture to recommend to a client who has been looking for a truly Lead-free ceramic mug to put their branding on for more than a year now!) To see the exact XRF testing of this mug pictured here, continue reading.
When tested with an XRF instrument, this 2019 Sweese brand ceramic mug – labeled “Lead-free” (with white glaze) had the following readings:
Test one – on the bottom of the mug (black logo area)
- Lead (Pb): 27 +/ 11 ppm
- Barium (Ba): 103 +/- 44 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 11,900 +/- 300 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 906 +/- 140 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): 75 +/- 15 ppm
- Vanadium (V): 424 +/- 48 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 879 +/- 81 ppm
- Zirconium (Zr): 1,591 +/- 44 ppm
To see some truly Lead-free mug choices, click here.
Test two – on the side of the mug (top of handle)
- Lead (Pb): 29 +/ 12 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 8,890 +/- 266 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 1,037 +/- 152 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): 59 +/- 14 ppm
- Vanadium (V): 429 +/- 45 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 791 +/- 72 ppm
Test three – on the side of the mug (180 second test)
- Lead (Pb): 27 +/ 7 ppm
- Barium (Ba): 58 +/- 25 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 11,100 +/- 200 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 1,102 +/- 87 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): 65 +/- 8 ppm
- Vanadium (V): 478 +/- 28 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 950 +/- 46 ppm
Please continue reading below the image.
Test four – unglazed rim of base ceramic on the bottom of the mug*
Test four – unglazed rim of base ceramic on the bottom of the mug*- Lead (Pb): 24 +/ 11 ppm
- Barium (Ba): 133 +/- 44 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 5,241 +/- 182 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 1,505 +/- 179 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): 77 +/- 15 ppm
- Vanadium (V): 265 +/- 33 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 507 +/- 53 ppm
*The rim is much smaller than the size of the testing window of the XRF instrument, so this reading includes a very small amount of the glazed area on either side of the unglazed rim (and as such, is not as high-accuracy as it would be if the rim was wide enough to fill the entire testing window).
Test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable. All tests were done using an XRF instrument reading for metals in “consumer goods mode.” Metals not detected by the instrument are not listed above. Tests were done for a minimum of 60 seconds each unless otherwise noted, and were repeated multiple times on each component to confirm the levels reported.
As always, thank you for reading and for sharing my posts.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama 
I am glad you tested a mug from this brand, as I saw them on Amazon and thought the colors and designs were cute. Is this the only Sweese item you’ve tested? (I searched your blog for the term ‘Sweese’ and this entry was the only thing that came up, but thought this may also just be a representative entry for the brand and you’ve tested other items from them too).
Hi Aysa,
This is the only item from this brand that I have ever tested.
Tamara
Thank you for this post, I also had wondered about this line and was hoping it was as good as it sounded. From what I understand you to be saying about ceramics, the levels in the Sweese cups, though not truly lead free would be considered safe? Also not likely to leach lead?
Hi Tracy,
Thank you for commenting.
That is correct.
Tamara
Thank you so much for the testing that you do! I would love it if you tested other colors of Sweese’s products to know if it’s just the white glaze that is safe or if I’m free to buy other colors as well!
I would also love to see a series of tests on Sweese colors. Thanks for your work. I have used your Amazon link!
Hi Ann!
The way things on this blog work is that my readers send me things to test and they help cover the costs of the testing. I have had to put a hold on that activity for a bit because I am so far behind with testing, but if you subscribe to the newsletter I will post an alert there when I open it back up for people to send me things to test. Here’s a post about that: https://tamararubin.com/2019/08/tamara-can-i-send-you-one-of-my-dishes-to-test-for-lead/
Tamara
I thought Sweese was mostly porcelain; their bowls, etc. I’m interested in their line if it’s lead safe/free and cadmium and arsenic free.
Looks like the mug had some cadmium as well as some lead. I am going to write to them for an honest answer.
This is very frustrating because I read elsewhere that they were lead free and cadmium free!
But again, I was requiring about porcelain not ceramic. I read so much about the kind of glass being used now for baking ware as well – used to be borosilicate glass in USA for many companies and now soda lime glass instead. So when you come down to it – it’s getting pretty difficult to replace dinnerware/bake ware that is safe. (The companies that used to use Borosilicate glass and now use soda lime are claiming it’s the user’s fault that the items “explode” and shatter glass all over. – Look at Corelle – Lenox – anchor Hocking, pyrex……. search for reports. It’s crazy what is going on. I was hoping Sweese would be safer than others.
p.s. I will be more than happy to contribute towards the testing of Sweese porcelain. I’ve written to them again to ask about lead and cadmium and can share what they say if you are interested.
I am also interested in buying Sweese, hf coors, or xtrema products. I really want safe colors , not white. Also wondering about princess house fantasia amethyst color.
Thank you for your great work.
Joyce
Deneen Pottery in MInnesota says their pottery is lead-free. I have a mug so I went in search of the maker and that’s what I found on their website.
Likely Lead-safe (unlikely to be 100% Lead-free)
Do you own your XRF meter? I’d like to buy one but they’re over $20k. Do you lease yours, or maybe you got a discount?
Just curious. Thanks.
I want get some Sweese bowls, plates and mugs. I will help cover testing too, as one other person mentioned in the thread above, if that ever is an option.
Thank you for all the info you share!