XRF Test Result for Small Harkerware (Since 1840, Made in U.S.A.) dish: The Old Homestead in Winter, Currier & Ives

Quick note from Tamara Rubin:

Given both the age of this dish and the amount of Lead on the food surface of this dish (the Harkerware Currier & Ives “The Old Homestead in Winter” pattern), it is a reasonable conclusion to draw that these particular dishes are not safe for use with food.

While there are no “total content limits” for Lead in dishware that is manufactured for use by adults today, for context (to help you understand the safety concerns with this dish) the total content limit for Lead in dishware manufactured specifically for use by children today is that it contain no more than 90 ppm Lead in the paint, glaze or coating of the item and no more than 100 ppm Lead in the substrate (base clay or other material) of the item. The XRF instrument we use for the testing we do does a good job of measuring the surface contamination of objects and it is reasonable to assume that the levels of toxicants found with these readings specifically reflect the lead content of the surface glaze of the piece pictured.

This piece was sent in for testing by Lorie in Michigan! Thank you Lorie!

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 July 2022, the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC has been responsible for six product recalls (FDA and CPSC).
All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable.
Please check out our press page to see some of the news coverage of our work, linked here.