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). Tamara’s work was featured in Consumer Reports Magazine in February 2023 (March 2023 print edition).
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Published: November 9, 2019
Updated: November 9, 2023
The small vintage clear-glass mug (with red painted highlights) pictured at the top of this page is another great example of a vintage/antique pressed-glass cup with press lines that help to indicate to you (the buyer or owner) that it is likely Lead-free. Press lines almost always are a good indicator that an antique or vintage functional glassware item (mug, vase, bowl, platter, etc.) is Lead-free (see additional images below). This is not ALWAYS the case, of course, but is almost always the case.
In my decade+ of testing consumer goods for Lead using XRF technology (since I was first trained and certified [in 2009] in using the scientific instrumentation that I use for testing), including testing literally thousands of items of this nature, I have only once tested a glass item with press lines (lines left over from the manufacture of typical pressed-glass of this vintage) that ended up being positive for a high level of Lead. That sole anomaly was a Waterford Crystal (Leaded crystal ) beer stein (c. 1980s?) — apparently intentionally made to imitate the look of vintage pressed-glass, as a “design choice!”
Lead-free & Cadmium-free
- The images below are photos showing close-ups of the press line running along the handle, and the side and the base of the cup pictured above.
- As a result of the prominent “press line” on the handle of this glass (as well as other qualities of the glass that made me nearly certain it was pressed glass, not cut Leaded crystal), prior to testing this item with an XRF instrument I was fairly certain that the glass would test negative for Lead (or, if positive, would test positive for very low levels of Lead!)
- Prior to testing this object I was not 100% certain whether or not the red pigmented areas might test positive for Cadmium (a known carcinogen).
- However, given the type of wear to the colored areas of this glass (the thin scratches and chips / imperfections in the color – imperfections that were not easily noticed / felt with the touch of a fingertip on those areas) – it does appear to be a post-manufacturing-applied thin layer of (transparent) painted color (not a color embedded in the glass, nor a fired-on enamel-type paint) – so I also did suspect (with a fair degree of certainty) that the red areas would likely be Cadmium-free, as well as Lead-free.
Please continue reading below the images.
All of the additional images below are an attempt at capturing the press lines of the glass.
XRF Test Results For The Glass Pictured
The exact XRF test results for the diminutive child’s mug (or perhaps it is a “punch” glass – from the type of set where the glasses were hung on hooks around the edges of a bowl?) pictured here were as follows.
Reading #1) Clear elements of the glass pictured:
- Antimony (Sb): 319 +/- 21 ppm
- Bromine (Br): 16 +/- 3 ppm
- Copper (Cu): 1,363 +/- 84 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 313 +/- 119 ppm
- Vanadium (V): 64 +/- 19 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 179 +/- 31 ppm
- Indium (In): 25 +/- 9 ppm
Metals not detected are not listed. Only the metals listed above were detected with the XRF instrument. Tests were done for a minimum of 60 seconds each (in “Consumer Goods” mode) and results are science-based and replicable. Multiple tests were done on each component of the item tested to confirm the results.
Reading #2) Red painted elements of the glass pictured:
- Antimony (Sb): 315 +/- 24 ppm
- Bromine (Br): 15 +/- 7 ppm
- Copper (Cu): 31,500 +/- 800 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 216 +/- 106 ppm
- Vanadium (V): 69 +/- 30 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 116 +/- 40 ppm
- Indium (In): 26 +/ -11 ppm
In Summary
This little vintage / antique glass mug is a classic example of Lead-free vintage / antique pressed-glass, (with the press line visible in the handle, which is helpful in identifying most similar items as likely Lead-free). While press lines are difficult to photograph, they are easy to spot in a visual inspection, and can usually be felt (as a [relatively sharp] raised line on the surface of the item – simply by running your finger [carefully – we’re talking about glass, after all!] over the seam of the handle, or other location of a visible seam in the item).
As always, thank you for reading, and for sharing articles from Lead Safe Mama dot com / Tamara Rubin dot com. Your readership sustains this work and makes it possible for us to continue testing (and reporting the test results for) consumer goods of all types. If you have not yet checked out the menu for this website (which has quick buttons to more easily access the thousands of items we have tested and reported on) please click the “Website Menu” button near the top of this page.
Some additional reading that may be of interest
- The “vintage glassware” category of articles here on this website
- Our “press line” category of articles
- Our “clear glass” category of articles
- Our “Leaded crystal” category of articles
- Our overview article on the concern for Lead in crystal
- Our overview article on the testing methodology and instrumentation we use for all test results reported here on this website
- A discussion about the community collaborative business model of Lead Safe Mama, LLC
- Our documentary feature film on childhood Lead poisoning prevention (with music donated by The Who and Tom Waits and others.)
- Our “mugs” category of articles (including safer choices for mugs and test results for dozens of different types of mugs)
- A scientific study (from 2017, England) discussing the concern for Lead painted glassware (vintage and newer)
Please let me know if you have any questions, I will do my best to answer them personally as soon as I have a moment.
Tamara Rubin
Owner – Lead Safe Mama, LLC
Mother of Acutely Lead Poisoned Children
#LeadSafeMama
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Is the Antimony and Copper an issue with using these glasses? I have small wine glasses like this and expect the results would be similar. Thanks for all you do.