Lindt-Stymeist brand ceramics brown glazed bowl in “Acorn” color, Made in Japan: 39 ppm Lead & 8 ppm Cadmium. Safe by all standards.

Published: March 10, 2022

This bowl is truly lovely to touch and hold. There is a really interesting unique quality of the glaze – and I don’t say that very often. The Lead and Cadmium levels are safe by all standards, and this is a very high-fire piece, so I do not have concern for leaching, given those two factors (low levels, high-fire.)

The Lead readings were higher (about 39 ppm) on the unglazed areas (the logo / back mark and the chip along the edge of this piece) than on the glazed areas (about 16 ppm.) What this indicates is that the trace level of Lead is likely present in the clay and not in the glaze (the glazed area came in at 16 ppm Lead.) The Lead level detected on the glazed food surface is likely the XRF instrument reading through a Lead-free glaze to the substrate below (which had a higher trace reading of Lead). Said another way, the Lead in the food surface reading is likely a “diluted” reading of the Lead level in the substrate below (a reading diluted by the Lead-free glaze). Cadmium was also only detected in trace levels on the bare (unglazed) areas – which also speaks to a Cadmium-free glaze being intentionally used for this piece. While I personally (for ethical and political reasons) choose to only select truly 100% Lead-free dishes for use in my own home, if you served me dinner on these dishes (when I was visiting you in your home) I would have absolutely no issues / concerns.

Reading #1) Center of food surface of the dish
60-second reading

• Lead (Pb): 16 +/- 3 ppm
• Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
• Mercury (Hg): non-detect
• Bromine (Br): non-detect
• Chromium (Cr): non-detect
• Iron (Fe): 18,700 +/- 200 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 17 +/- 10 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 138 +/- 9 ppm
• Indium (In): 5 +/- 3 ppm
• Tin (Sn): 6 +/- 3 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 120 +/- 13 ppm
• Platinum (Pt): 29 +/- 12 ppm
• Bismuth (Bi): 24 +/- 4 ppm
• No other metals detected in consumer goods mode.

Reading #2) Back mark (logo area) of the dish
60-second reading

• Lead (Pb): 38 +/- 4 ppm
• Cadmium (Cd): 5 +/- 2 ppm
• Mercury (Hg): non-detect
• Bromine (Br): non-detect
• Chromium (Cr): 2,951 +/- 159 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 17,500 +/- 200 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 131 +/- 9 ppm
• Tin (Sn): 5 +/- 3 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 83 +/- 13 ppm
• Bismuth (Bi): 32 +/- 4 ppm
• No other metals detected in consumer goods mode.

Reading #3) Chipped area on inside of bowl (bare ceramic)
30-second reading

• Lead (Pb): 39 +/- 7 ppm
• Cadmium (Cd): 8 +/- 3 ppm
• Mercury (Hg): non-detect
• Bromine (Br): non-detect
• Chromium (Cr): non-detect
• Iron (Fe): 14,300 +/- 300 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 73 +/- 11 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 38 +/- 20 ppm
• Bismuth (Bi): 28 +/- 6 ppm
• No other metals detected in consumer goods mode.

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. Tamara’s sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in August of 2005. 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 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. Please click through to this link to learn more about the testing methodology used for the test results discussed and reported on this website.