XRF test results for Franconia Silver Thistle pattern (K & A Krautheim, Selb Bavaria Germany) china dish sent in by Cindy in Texas
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).
Published: July 18, 2023 — Tuesday
Below are the full XRF test results for the dish pictured above (additional photos below as well). These floral patterned (Silver Thistle) Franconia dishes (Made in Germany/ Made in Bavaria) tested positive for unsafe levels of Lead when looking at the strictest standards available: total Lead content limits in the paint, glaze, or coating of items intended for use by children.
Modern dishware is not regulated to meet these standards as (in general, unless it is a dish expressly made and sold as an item intended to be used by children — like a baby dish) it does not fall within the category of “items intended for use by children.”
Additionally, vintage or antique dishware was also never regulated for total Lead content on the food surface (or for the total content of other toxic metals/metals known to cause harm to humans). This was historically — in large part — because the levels of toxicants (Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, etc.) were not measurable in any meaningful or cost-effective manner at the time when most vintage or antique dishes were made.
For context: any level under 90 ppm Lead in the glaze, paint, or coating on an item is considered safe for children by all modern standards related to consumer goods, and any reading under 40 ppm Cadmium is considered safe for children by all modern standards. Knowing the above-noted standards, it is easy to see why the Lead levels on this dish are particularly concerning. But is this dish actually going to poison the user? You can read more about the answer to that question at this link.
Reading #1) Center of food surface on the dish (plain white area)
80-second test (repeated multiple times to confirm results)
- Lead (Pb): 207 +/- 15 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): 6 +/- 4 ppm
- Tin (Sn): non-detect / negative
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect / negative
- Selenium (Se): non-detect / negative
- Barium (Ba): 148 +/- 24 ppm
- Arsenic (As): non-detect / negative
- Chromium (Cr): non-detect / negative
- Antimony (Sb): non-detect / negative
- Nickel (Ni): non-detect / negative
- Copper (Cu): 60 +/- 19 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 3,738 +/- 93 ppm
- Manganese (Mn): 1,258 +/- 164 ppm
- Zirconium (Zr): non-detect / negative
- Iron (Fe): 2,796 +/- 152 ppm
- Platinum (Pt): 66 +/- 32 ppm
- Cobalt (Co): non-detect / negative
- Bismuth (Bi): 37 +/- 9 ppm
- Chlorine (Cl): non-detect / negative
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Reading #2) Food surface of dish: green on floral decoration
60-second test (repeated multiple times to confirm results)
- Lead (Pb): 4,229 +/- 96 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect / negative
- Tin (Sn): 31 +/- 8 ppm
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect / negative
- Selenium (Se): non-detect / negative
- Barium (Ba): 180 +/- 29 ppm
- Arsenic (As): non-detect / negative
- Chromium (Cr): 1,443 +/- 282 ppm
- Antimony (Sb): 38 +/- 11 ppm
- Nickel (Ni): non-detect / negative
- Copper (Cu): 89 +/- 24 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 4,583 +/- 121 ppm
- Manganese (Mn): 1,139 +/- 187 ppm
- Zirconium (Zr): non-detect / negative
- Indium (In): non-detect / negative
- Iron (Fe): 2,531 +/- 165 ppm
- Platinum (Pt): 184 +/- 49 ppm
- Cobalt (Co): 559 +/- 75 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): 28 +/- 16 ppm
- Chlorine (Cl): non-detect / negative
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Reading #3) Food surface of dish: yellow on floral decoration
100-second test (repeated multiple times to confirm results)
- Lead (Pb): 1,976 +/- 60 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): 9 +/- 5 ppm
- Tin (Sn): 25 +/- 8 ppm
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect / negative
- Selenium (Se): non-detect / negative
- Barium (Ba): 65 +/- 29 ppm
- Arsenic (As): non-detect / negative
- Chromium (Cr): non-detect / negative
- Antimony (Sb): 21 +/- 11 ppm
- Nickel (Ni): non-detect / negative
- Copper (Cu): 50 +/- 24 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 2,854 +/- 94 ppm
- Manganese (Mn): 1,371 +/- 203 ppm
- Zirconium (Zr): non-detect / negative
- Indium (In): 12 +/- 7 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 3,735 +/- 209 ppm
- Platinum (Pt): 81 +/- 42 ppm
- Cobalt (Co): 357 +/- 77 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): 58 +/- 14 ppm
- Chlorine (Cl): non-detect / negative
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Reading #4) Food surface of dish: silver trim on edge of the dish
100-second test (repeated multiple times to confirm results)
- Lead (Pb): 88 +/- 26 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): 11 +/- 6 ppm
- Tin (Sn): 19 +/- 10 ppm
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect / negative
- Selenium (Se): non-detect / negative
- Barium (Ba): non-detect / negative
- Arsenic (As): non-detect / negative
- Chromium (Cr): non-detect / negative
- Antimony (Sb): non-detect / negative
- Nickel (Ni): non-detect / negative
- Copper (Cu): 75 +/- 34 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 2,216 +/- 96 ppm
- Manganese (Mn): 882 +/- 217 ppm
- Niobium (Nb): 350 +/- 23 ppm
- Zirconium (Zr): non-detect / negative
- Indium (In): 18 +/- 8 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 4,657 +/- 279 ppm
- Platinum (Pt): 3,029 +/- 143 ppm
- Gold (Au): 2,199 +/- 109 ppm
- Cobalt (Co): non-detect / negative
- Bismuth (Bi): non-detect / negative
- Chlorine (Cl): non-detect / negative
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Some additional reading that may be of interest
- More “Made In Germany” pieces we have tested
- More pieces marked “Bavaria” that we have tested
- An overview article about the concern for Lead in pottery/ceramics
- A link to a “Menu” for this website
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