Kitchen tile from Nashville, Tennessee home purchased in 1988: 556,900 ppm Lead in the glaze (more than 55% Lead!)

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 of 2023 (March 2023 print edition).

July 15, 2021 — Thursday

XRF test results for the tile pictured. Tests were repeated multiple times to confirm the results and done for a minimum of 60 seconds each.

#1.) Glazed front of the tile

• Lead (Pb): 531,800 +/- 15,000 ppm
• Cadmium (Cd): 443 +/- 36 ppm
• Bromine (Br): 514 +/- 89 ppm
• Chromium (Cr): 1,566 +/- 183 ppm
• Vanadium (V): 2,247 +/- 433
• Iron (Fe): 11,800 +/- 400 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 114,100 +/- 3,300 ppm
• Titanium (Ti): 3,017 +/- 540 ppm
• Tin (Sn): 309 +/- 46 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 1,351 +/- 222 ppm
• Gold (Au): 1,333 +/- 199 ppm
• Bismuth (Bi): 3,821 +/- 461 ppm
• No other metals were detected.
• Second test Lead level: 556,900 +/- 16,000 ppm (test on a slightly darker spot)

#2.) Reddish (terra cotta) unglazed backside (bare clay) of the tile

• Lead (Pb): 843 +/- 18 ppm
• Chromium (Cr): 794 +/- 109 ppm
• Manganese (Mn): 691 +/- 77 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 45,100 +/- 500 ppm
• Nickel (Ni): 655 +/- 36 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 386 +/-15 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 153 +/- 14 ppm

A primary concern with tile like this is demolition.
Here are some additional related articles to read:

• This article covers the demolition concern.
• This article discusses the impact of a potential low-level dust exposure (how little Lead in dust it takes to poison a child/ person).
• Here’s my overview of the testing methodology employed on this site.
• This is a link to all of my articles with the tag “Tile.”
• Here’s another overview of Lead in ceramics.
• This article shows you how to search the website efficiently — please watch the video.

Thanks for reading. Thank you for sharing this work. As always, please let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them personally as soon as I have a moment (which may not be right away — but I will try!).

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama