Here’s the story about the time I met Erin Brockovich (in 2016) and showed her how I test vintage Pyrex for Lead.
The post I shared on Instagram today…
The post I shared on Instagram today…❣️This photo is from when I was the opening speaker for a presentation with Erin Brockovich. I brought a prop with me — a yellow vintage Pyrex mixing bowl — to show Erin how I test consumer goods for Lead using XRF technology (and also to demonstrate to the audience present at the event the lack of corporate responsibility when it comes to Lead and other toxicants commonly found in vintage and new consumer goods).
❣️This was eight months before Snopes decided to write falsehoods about my findings of Lead in the exterior paint on vintage and newer Pyrex pieces. Unfortunately, today Snopes readers still find that Dec. 2016 article (which should have been retracted but wasn’t) and come to the conclusion (incorrectly) that vintage Pyrex does not have unsafe levels of Lead in the exterior decorations. Since 2016 Snopes has written about my work a total of four times — two in which they cite my work as the “evidence” that something is true (because I’m “the expert”) and another two where they try to discredit my work (without interviewing me and without understanding the intention behind the work I do)! #Sigh
❣️I do what I do to help parents make informed decisions so they can protect their families. Lead does not belong in our homes and it definitely does not belong in our kitchens and on our dinner tables! Please read my article (linked in the header of my Instagram today) explaining why it is still a problem that vintage Pyrex is painted with high Lead coatings (even though the coating is “only on the outside!”). There are several dozen other articles about vintage Pyrex on this website (linked here) — most with (science-based, factual, replicable, accurate) XRF test results for toxic heavy metals for the pieces tested. All public agencies agree that there is no safe level of Lead exposure.
❣️New clear glass mixing bowls are available on Amazon and elsewhere inexpensively (see some linked here) and they are likely to be Lead-free as long as there is no painted or printed markings on the exterior. Please stop using your vintage Pyrex pieces for food use purposes and find Lead-free alternatives.
#PyrexPassion
#VintagePyrex
#Pyrex
#LeadSafeMama
#ErinBrockovich
#LeadedPyrex
#VintageLeadedPyrex
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). 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 tested. Tamara’s work was featured in Consumer Reports Magazine in February of 2023 (March 2023 print edition).
Below are the six additional images I shared in today’s Instagram post. Note: 90 ppm Lead and up is unsafe for kids. Please click any of the images below to read the full piece (and full test results) for the item pictured. Thank you!
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I have exactly one of those left in my kitchen supplies. Can you explain in your posts the risk level you believe various products may pose?
In this case, food goes inside the bowl, and the leaded colorant is only on the outside. I’ve heard plenty about the risk of lead poisoning from children eating peeling paint in old homes, but I’ve never read anything indicating that just touching the painted walls, even over time, is dangerous.
Of course it’s ideal that there be none, period. But individuals can better weigh the risk level of certain products, their own comfort level, and how they are used in their particular household with this kind of information. Kinda how EWG does with rating produce for pesticide contamination. They have a list of “the dirty dozen”- the plant foods that tend to absorb the most pesticide residue into the part we eat, and another of “the clean 15” for those that absorb the least.
At least from the amount of knowledge I currently have, I’d tend not to bother replacing this bowl. It’s pretty infrequently used to begin with; it’s just one of a series of different sizes of mixing bowls, unmatched, that I own. But I ALWAYS appreciate more knowledge. For that reason I’m very happy to have found your work and and I signed up for your notifications recently from the very first time I learned about you & what you do. But I am having trouble discerning what is higher risk, not just in terms of PPM but in how a thing is used, vs lower. You provide excellent information and are clear that it’s for us to use as we see fit for our household ❤️, it’s just difficult to do without some risk level knowledge too.
Hi Lori,
Thanks for commenting!
It sounds like you haven’t yet seen my film – which specifically has a scene in which two of the top historians (on the issue of childhood Lead poisoning) mention the concern of people being poisoned from “just touching walls” – here’s the link to the full film: https://youtu.be/eRKlaC2EjL0
Please start by reading this post (linked above as well):
https://tamararubin.com/2020/07/if-the-lead-is-only-on-the-outside-of-my-dish-measuring-cup-mixing-bowl-etc-why-does-it-matter-that-it-has-lead/
And then this article about a related scientific study for the concern of Lead painted coatings on the exterior of glassware:
https://tamararubin.com/2017/11/decorated-glassware/
And then this article about my overall concern for Lead in food use items:
https://tamararubin.com/topics/does-vintage-and-new-functional-pottery-and-dishware-have-unsafe-levels-of-lead/
This post about symptoms in adults might also be helpful:
https://tamararubin.com/2017/01/what-is-the-impact-of-lead-poisoning-in-adults-including-college-age-students/
If I had to put the vintage Pyrex in a category – I would put it in the “highest risk” category. I would never risk having items like this in my home for functional food use purposes.
Tamara
i have all these i will have to replace them. Also I have copper mixing bowls. Don’t know name brand not on the item. I remember when i bought them they were copper are these safe to use. I was told these are best for whipping eggs for merengues. Thanks so much for all your information. Have a blessed day
In thebiographical film about a legal clerk who brings a major utility company to its knees for poisoning residents of Hinkley, California, Erin Brockovich ended on a Hollywood high note with a $3 settlement from PG E. But chromium-6 contamination of America’s drinking water is an ongoing battle the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is losing. Nearly 200 million Americans across all 50 states are exposed to unsafe levels of chromium-6 or hexavalent chromium, a heavy metal known to cause cancer in animals and humans, according to a new report released Tuesday by the nonprofit research and advocacy organization Environmental Working Group (EWG).
I have at least 50 pieces of painted pyrex. I never used them, but collected them and my mother had her wedding sets she never used. I want them gone. WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO GET THEM GONE? TRASH? DONATE? OTHER IDEAS? I DO NOT WANT TO HARM PEOPLE OR THE ENVIRONMENT!!! WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST?
I have an article – will get you the link.