Heath Ceramic Bowl (#104) Sausalito, California: 226,000 ppm Lead (90 ppm is unsafe for kids)

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Introduction (for those new to this website):

Tamara Rubin is a federal-award-winning independent advocate for consumer goods safety and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children, her sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005. Since 2009 Tamara has been using XRF testing (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. All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable. Items are tested multiple times, to confirm the test results for each component. Tamara’s work was featured in Consumer Reports Magazine in February of 2023.

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When tested with an XRF instrument (for 60-second minimum repeated tests) this Heath Ceramics (of Sausalito, California) bowl (#104) had the following readings:

Food surface center of the bowl (gray/cream glaze):

• Lead (Pb): 54,800 +/- 2,000 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 1,089 +/- 145 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 44.400 +/- 1,600 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 586 +/- 89 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 1,261 +/- 250 ppm
• Zirconium (Zr): 12,500 +/- 600 ppm
• Manganese (Mn): 3,418 +/- 453 ppm

Dark green edge of bowl:

• Lead (Pb): 226,000 +/- 14,000 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 8,127 +/- 778 ppm
• Selenium (Se): 331 +/- 210 ppm
• Bromine (Br): 388 +/- 138 ppm
• Tin (Sn): 199 +/- 122 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 88,900 +/- 5,300 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 25,900 +/- 1,600 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 1,716 +/- 283 ppm

Note: the year of manufacture of this piece is unknown. I expect it to be greater than 10 years old (in 2020). If I get some additional information about this piece I will update the post accordingly,

Some additional reading you might find interesting:

• More Heath Ceramics pieces I have tested.
• More about the concern for Lead in pottery.
• More “Made in California” pieces I have tested.

As always, thank you for reading and for sharing my posts.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama