Introduction (for those new to this website):
Tamara Rubin is an independent advocate for consumer goods safety. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children. She began testing consumer goods for toxicants in 2009 and was the parent-advocate responsible for finding Lead in the popular fidget spinner toys in 2017. Tamara uses XRF testing (a scientific method used by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission) to test consumer goods for metallic toxicants, including Lead, Cadmium, Mercury and Arsenic.
When tested with an XRF instrument, this Greenbrier International white ceramic Royal Norfolk dinner plate [purchased at a Dollar Tree store in 2020] had the following readings:
On the food surface of the dish:
90-second test
- Lead (Pb): 26 +/- 7 ppm
- Barium (Ba): 59 +/- 20 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): 72 +/- 9 ppm
- Platinum (Pt): 91 +/- 40 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 8,210 +/- 163 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 1,363 +/- 113 ppm
- Indium (In): 9 +/- 5 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 366 +/- 130 ppm
- With a second test the Lead came in at 21 +/- 9 ppm.
- Note: the logo / back-mark on the dish had similar readings to the food surface of the dish.
How much Lead is “too much” Lead?
The amount of Lead that is considered unsafe and illegal in a modern / newly manufactured item made and sold for use by children today is anything 90 ppm Lead or higher in the paint / glaze or coating and anything 100 ppm Lead or higher in the substrate. While dishes are not covered by this regulatory standard [even though it is my opinion that they should be — because children also use dishes!], the low (trace) levels mean these dishes would be considered safe by all standards (including the standard for children’s items!)
Some additional reading:
- To read more about the concern for Lead in pottery and dishware, click here.
- To see more items from the Dollar Store that I have tested, click here.
- To see more plain white ceramic dishes I have tested, click here (many are high Lead!)
- To read more about the type of testing I do, click here.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you for reading and for sharing my posts.
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
Hi Tamara,
So great to find your info! We just purchased some Red Royal Norfolk Ceramic Embossed plates from the Dollar Tree. Do you know the lead content of these?