Friday: April 9, 2021
New Video (scroll to bottom of post):
As anticipated – the appetizer dish set in this video tested positive for Lead [at extremely high levels] using XRF technology, yet did not result in a definitive positive test result for Lead using a Lead Check® chemical reagent swab. Chemical reagent swabs are NOT designed to test dishes (or any glazed ceramics) for the presence of Lead — they are designed to test for Lead in house paint, and this is a good illustration of that. So a ceramic dish (like this one) can have VERY high Lead content in the glaze, but still appear to test “negative” — with a chemical reagent swab; I have several posts related to this:
#1.) Testing Dishes/Why You Cannot Test Dishes With a chemical regent swab: https://tamararubin.com/2017/02/ask-tamara-q-can-i-test-my-dishes-for-lead-with-a-leadcheck-swab-a-sometimes-but-not-always-click-to-read-more/
#1.a.) Things you CAN test with a chemical reagent swab: https://tamararubin.com/2017/11/where/
#2) The Concern for Lead in Pottery and Dishware: https://tamararubin.com/topics/does-vintage-and-new-functional-pottery-and-dishware-have-unsafe-levels-of-lead/
#3) The Methods I use for Testing:
#4) XRF Test Results for a similar piece of Mexican Pottery (also marked “Lead-Free” on the blog: https://tamararubin.com/2018/06/leaded-mexican-pottery-marked-lead-free/
#5) My overview post that links all of the Mexican Pottery examples on the blog: https://tamararubin.com/2020/05/this-post-has-all-of-the-links-to-pieces-i-have-written-about-mexican-pottery-bowls-cups-platters-new-vintage-with-xrf-test-results/
#6) The new navigation menu for this blog! https://tamararubin.com/instagram/
#7) More items that were marketed or labeled as being “Lead-Free” that also tested positive for Lead: https://tamararubin.com/category/lead-free-items-with-lead/
Here’s an Amazon Affiliate link for LeadCheck® swabs too if you are so inclined: https://amzn.to/3t6dJb5
Thanks for watching and thanks for reading!
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
Hi Tamara,
I see you are handling these leaded products without gloves. Is lead transferring to your skin not a concern? The CDC seems to suggest that washing skin with standard soap and water is not enough to remove lead residues, so how do you decontaminate after touching leaded items?