Green, Red & Blue Denby Mug, Made in England (sent in by Claire in MO): 145 ppm Lead (on interior glaze)
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).
May 2, 2023 — Tuesday
XRF Test Results for the Denby Dish Pictured
Quick Summary:
This cup tested positive for low levels of Lead in all colors of the glaze. I would not expect these mugs to result in Lead poisoning, HOWEVER, given there is no safe level of Lead exposure for human beings (especially for children) and that the impacts of Lead exposure are cumulative over a lifetime, I would not choose to use these dishes (or dishes with similar levels of Lead) in my home with my family. You can read more about the concern at this link.
Some additional reading:
- To read more about the concern for Lead in pottery and china in general, click here.
- For the menu of this website (where you can look through all the different categories of items Lead Safe Mama, LLC has tested), click here.
- To see XRF test results for more “Made in England” pieces we have tested, click here.
- To see more Denby pieces we have tested, click here.
- To learn more about sending in an item from your home for Lead Safe Mama, LLC to test, click here.
Color-Code Key to XRF Readings Below
Metals noted in RED are considered toxic heavy metals in most applications.
Metals noted in ORANGE are considered toxic in some applications (specifically with ingestion).
Metals noted in BLUE are not considered toxic in this application.
Metals noted in GRAY were not found to be present (with the low threshold of detection for the XRF instrument normally falling in the single or double-digit ppm for most metals).
Reading #1) Blue Glaze
60-second test (repeated multiple times to confirm results)
- Lead (Pb): 130 +/- 14 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Tin (Sn): non-detect
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect
- Selenium (Se): non-detect
- Barium (Ba): 223 +/- 31 ppm
- Arsenic (As): non-detect
- Chromium (Cr): non-detect
- Antimony (Sb): non-detect
- Copper (Cu): 1,436 +/- 67 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 32,300 +/- 600 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): non-detect
- Bromine (Br): non-detect
- Manganese (Mn): non-detect
- Zirconium (Zr): non-detect
- Indium (In): non-detect
- Iron (Fe): 775 +/- 96 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): non-detect
- Vanadium (V): non-detect
- Platinum (Pt): 543 +/- 83 ppm
- Gold (Au): 159 +/- 95 ppm
- Cobalt (Co): 9,065 +/- 245 ppm
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Reading #2) Red Glaze
60-second test (repeated multiple times to confirm results)
- Lead (Pb): 108 +/- 15 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): 53 +/- 7 ppm
- Tin (Sn): 3,058 +/- 83 ppm
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect
- Selenium (Se): non-detect
- Barium (Ba): 90 +/- 35 ppm
- Arsenic (As): non-detect
- Chromium (Cr): non-detect
- Antimony (Sb): non-detect
- Copper (Cu): 92 +/- 30 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 76 +/- 18 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): non-detect
- Bromine (Br): non-detect
- Manganese (Mn): non-detect
- Zirconium (Zr): non-detect
- Indium (In): 33 +/- 8 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 3,391 +/- 223 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): 45 +/- 11 ppm
- Vanadium (V): non-detect
- Platinum (Pt): non-detect
- Gold (Au): non-detect
- Cobalt (Co): non-detect
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Reading #3) Green Glaze (Interior)
60-second test (repeated multiple times to confirm results)
- Lead (Pb): 145 +/- 15 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Tin (Sn): non-detect
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect
- Selenium (Se): non-detect
- Barium (Ba): 47 +/- 28 ppm
- Arsenic (As): non-detect
- Chromium (Cr): 7,635 +/- 441 ppm
- Antimony (Sb): non-detect
- Nickel (Ni): 82 +/- 50 ppm
- Copper (Cu): 101 +/- 25 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 18,300 +/- 400 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): non-detect
- Bromine (Br): non-detect
- Manganese (Mn): non-detect
- Zirconium (Zr): non-detect
- Indium (In): non-detect
- Iron (Fe): 1,295 +/- 120 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): non-detect
- Vanadium (V): non-detect
- Platinum (Pt): 272 +/- 64 ppm
- Gold (Au): non-detect
- Cobalt (Co): 2,723 +/- 129 ppm
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
~ End ~
Never Miss an Important Article Again!
Join our Email List