Test Results for Falcon Housewares White Enamel Dinner Plate, Purchased (in 2024) at a Scotland Nickel & Dime for £2.99
For those new to the Lead Safe Mama 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 four sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005).
- Tamara owns and runs Lead Safe Mama, LLC — a unique community collaborative woman-owned small business for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety.
- Since 2009, Tamara has been conducting XRF testing (a scientific testing method) using the exact instrumentation employed by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to test consumer goods for toxicants (specifically heavy metals — including Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Antimony, and Arsenic).
- Since July of 2022, the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC has been responsible for 5 product recalls (FDA and CPSC).
- All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable.
- Items that Lead Safe Mama, LLC reports on are tested multiple times to confirm the results published (for each component tested).
- Recent notable press… There has been too much to mention already in 2024! Please check out our press page to see some of the amazing coverage of our work so far this year!
Published: March 18, 2024
XRF Test Results for the Dish Pictured
This dish was positive for three toxicants (heavy metals) on the food surface. This included trace levels of Lead and Cadmium, and non-trace (more significant) levels of Antimony (a known carcinogen). In general, we recommend avoiding using enamelware for use with food — especially an example like this that is intended for cooking food in the oven (or on the stovetop). While a dish like this might meet toxicant safety standards when it is in new condition, it is possible it could leach toxicants into the food prepared on (or served on) the dish as it used and as the surface coating begins to deteriorate (especially with heavy use over time with hot and acidic foods — like vinegar, citrus fruits, and tomatoes/ tomato sauces).
Even more expensive brands with enamel food-contact surfaces (like Le Creuset) typically test positive for one or more of these three toxicants in one or more components of the product. Recently manufactured products (like this one) tend to have lower levels of Lead and Cadmium (at least in lighter color enamels) and higher levels of Antimony. The use of Antimony has replaced the use of Lead in many modern applications where Lead was historically used. Antimony was added (officially) to the list of known carcinogens in the United States in December 2021 (here’s a link with more info).
Reading #1) center of the food surface of the dish (white enamel)
90-second reading
- Lead (Pb): 16 +/- 6 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect
- Arsenic (As): non-detect
- Antimony (Sb): 192 +/- 27 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 39,000 +/- 800 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 483 +/- 64 ppm
- Nickel (Ni): 49 +/- 22 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 240 +/- 21 ppm
- Barium (Ba): 3,646 +/- 158 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): 11 +/- 7 ppm
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Reading #2) dark blue edge of the food surface of the dish
60-second reading
- Lead (Pb): 60 +/- 13 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect
- Arsenic (As): 31 +/- 12 ppm
- Antimony (Sb): 1,686 +/- 63 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 8,883 +/- 806 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 946 +/- 103 ppm
- Nickel (Ni): 843 +/- 56 ppm
- Copper (Cu): 259 +/- 41 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 162 +/- 26 ppm
- Barium (Ba): 11,700 +/- 400 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): 27 +/- 12 ppm
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Some additional reading for those interested in this topic:
- More enamelware items we have tested
- The Le Creuset category of articles here on this website
- Enamel cups and mugs we have tested and reported on
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