Toxins in the Home: Lead
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| Zinc and lead ores, photo credit: Orbital Joe on Flickr Used by Creative Commons License. |
While I’ve been going on about the dangers of everything you can imagine for months now, I may be the last crunchy mom on the planet to have awoken to the realization that lead is practically everywhere! I mean, we all know about lead paint, but I thought lessons had been learned and putting lead in things was a giant no-no. Silly me, I should have known better. It is still everywhere.
Back when I was reading Green Babies, Sage Moms, I remember some mention of dishes along with a suggestion that families use lead free ceramics. But why wouldn’t ceramic be lead free!? The idea seemed crazy to me, but my prego brain soon moved on to some other worry or plan and I forgot to look further into the matter. That was until one day, when I noted that when scratches appeared on our dishes, the color left behind was a sort of metallic gray. While I realize that what I saw was a mark made by the silverware, and not lead, it reminded me of the issue and triggered a train of thought that went something like this: “That looks metallic. Lead is a metal. Lead free ceramics! I was meaning to look into that!” So, look into it I did, and I found that both of our sets of dishes were most certainly on the list of those containing lead. Even the glaze on Corelle, which is not ceramic at all, contains lead. It seems that most all popular brands of dishware do, though only at or below “FDA approved levels.” I’m not so sure I want the FDA deciding how much lead my child should be exposed to, and when you consider all of the other items in the average home that may also contain the stuff (drawer pulls, painted toys, jewelry, etc), the thought of the cumulative effect of all of it combined is a bit unsettling.
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| An Annabelle-sized dinner in a lead free bowl |
When I did my searching, I found a list of dinnerware brands that are made with lead, but the site that hosted it seems to be gone now. If you want to check your brand of dishes, you will more than likely be able to find information on their website, or on a product page for the same item somewhere like amazon. Keep in mind that “lead safe” does not mean “lead free.”
Of course we can’t go out and replace everything in our home that contains heavy metals or strange chemicals all at once, because we’d go broke. Disposing of such things is a sticky issue as well, so we’re taking it slowly. Fortunately, however, we’ve been using a combination of the cheesy dishes I bought when I first moved out on my own at seventeen, and my mother in law’s old dishes, so we were due for an updated set all our own anyway. We decided to upgrade to Fiestaware, a completely lead free line made in the US by the Homer Laughlin China Co. I have yet to find a company that makes a totally lead free slow cooker, however, which has been a real disappointment. For now, mine is waiting in the cabinet until I make a decision on what to do with it.
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| Annabelle at seven months. Would you like some lead with that caterpillar? Sorry, babe. |
Much to my surprise, there was something else in our home that I mistakenly thought was totally safe – some of Annabelle’s wooden toys! I have carefully avoided plastic, not only because the Montessorian in me wants everything in Annabelle’s environment to be reality based, and made of natural materials, but also because of concerns over BPA and phthalates. One of the most accessible brands of wooden toys is Melissa and Doug, and we have several items from them. Each is labeled as being finished with “non-toxic paint,” but this only means, apparently, that lead levels are low enough to be considered “safe.” I discovered this when my googling landed me on a few discussions in the Mothering forums that discussed the issue. Looking further into it, I found numerous places where people said they had tested their own child’s M&D toys, but particularly telling is the company’s own safety statement, which harps on the subject of testing to ensure the safety of their toys, but avoids saying that the paint is “lead free,” or free of anything really. It seems that not all natural toys are created equal.
In the news more recently has been the finding that many reusable shopping bags contain high levels of lead as well. It seems that the stuff is everywhere. Unfortunately, we will never be able to protect our children from everything, but we can do our best to limit their exposure to toxins that we are aware of and continue to advocate for change.
I’m trying not to go too crazy testing everything in sight, but I have been considering the purchase of some home lead test kits if I can find them on island, so that I can test a few other things around the house. If you have items that you’re concerned about, this is definitely something to consider!
Know other parents who might benefit from this information? Please feel free to share! Have info on other toxins in the home? Please leave a comment!
10 Responses to Toxins in the Home: Lead
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It's so scary – every time you turn around it's something new – toxins, poisons, dangerous toys, recalls, deadly cribs… it can be very overwhelming – I appreciate the non-alarmist, rational tone you take when discussing these things. Thank you for an informative post that didn't send me into full-scale panic.
How bizarre that the notion of 'approved levels' of lead in table ware or toys even exists! What on earth are we thinking? Thanks for this.
Oh man, that's so scary. I feel like everything is dangerous for our kids these days!
Yes, lead is on many things you would not expect it to be. Christmas tree lights for instance, and most electrical cords the way it looks. As for dinnerware I was searching the web for a list of brands that had lead but had no luck finding any. I use Corelle brand because I always thought it was leadfree. Where did you get this information? Fiestaware is wonderful. As for a lead free slow cooker look into VitaClayChef.com – gourment rice and slow cooker, item no. VF7900-4.
"Where Lead Hides" Google – Where might lead be hiding in your home, Hydra.usc.edu
Mary, thanks so much for the slow cooker tip! As for the lead in corelle, I'm sorry I didn't include a link within my post. I always try to do that! The following is from the FAQs on their website (link: http://worldkitchen.com/index.asp?PageId=39&catId=12&faqId=285), "Decorations, if present, are made from low-lead enamels and fired at temperatures exceeding 1000 degrees F, which binds any heavy metals both physically and chemically so that their release is minimized."
Mary, thanks so much for the slow cooker tip! As for the lead in corelle, I'm sorry I didn't include a link within my post. I always try to do that! The following is from the FAQs on their website (link: http://worldkitchen.com/index.asp?PageId=39&catId;=12&faqId;=285), "Decorations, if present, are made from low-lead enamels and fired at temperatures exceeding 1000 degrees F, which binds any heavy metals both physically and chemically so that their release is minimized."
"Where Lead Hides" Google – Where might lead be hiding in your home, Hydra.usc.edu
Yes, lead is on many things you would not expect it to be. Christmas tree lights for instance, and most electrical cords the way it looks. As for dinnerware I was searching the web for a list of brands that had lead but had no luck finding any. I use Corelle brand because I always thought it was leadfree. Where did you get this information? Fiestaware is wonderful. As for a lead free slow cooker look into VitaClayChef.com – gourment rice and slow cooker, item no. VF7900-4.
I am quite saddened to read Melissa and Doug aren’t lead free. I purposefully replaced one of Riley’s musical toys with some of theirs – assuming. :( That should teach me what I should have already known – never assume! Thanks for sharing.