Yes, I'd read about lead in old dishes before and got rid of any suspicious ones, as we had just had the toxic mold debacle and I was still very sick. But I forgot. I honestly, totally, forgot! Now, I accidentally bought two 180 year-old antique plates from the flea market. I mean I meant to buy them, but they were in such a super condition it would never have occurred to me that they were that old. At home I was curious about these plates and googled the text on the back and that is when I found out they were nearly 200 year old English transfer ware plates. The design was pretty rare, and in the green color way so rare that I could not find one picture of the same ones, no matter what search word I used, nor with google lens.
But I also found out that they were lead glazed. Okayyyyh, so not for eating out of then. Would make a pretty wall plate, perhaps. But I'd only need one. Could try to sell them. Anyway, this made me research more about the lead in dishes, and whaddya know, I stumbled upon the same articles I now remembered from ten years ago! Sigh.
I read about a simple test swab you could do at home, that would not tell you specific amounts, but it would show if the item was leaching lead or not, and if it was leaching just a little, or a lot, which you could tell by how strong a color change there would be in the swab.
I had 60 swabs and decided to test the dishes we were using, plates, bowls, cups, mixing bowls and such. Then I would test the antiques I had that were for when we had guests over, or just when there was a special need for something we didn't use every day. I also tested the antique plates I knew for sure had lots of lead in them, for reference and to see that the swabs gave accurate results. On some dishes I repeated the test with a second swab.
So the results so far is that all my antique and vintage items leached lead :( But also some of the newer items did, for example the coffee cups I'd got for when I have guests over. Our church women's group meets at our house, so there is a regular need for more dishes and utensils than just the two of us would need.
Besides lead, the colors used can leach into the food, like cadmium, chrome, and cobalt. They are also highly toxic. So white dishes are the safest. I cringe when I think that we were eating from some colorful antique plates for a while there! Even before I did the test, I removed the colorful ones from our use, but turns out the white dinner plates ones also leached lead in my test.
Our bowls that we use for everything, for soups, cereal, pasta, porridge, rice based foods.. they were bought new and test negative. Our cups / mugs are from the same series, as are our small plates. I also learned that Ikea stopped using any lead in their glazes in 2010, so any new(ish) dishes from Ikea are safe. Because you know, while lead in dishes is regulated now, ever since the 1970's or 1980's depending on the country, it is not completely banned.
Also, any red clay dishes that have been low-fired, have more lead in them, as the higher the firing temperature, the more of the lead is destroyed in the process. So those lovely, old rustic earthenware pieces should be used for decoration only, or maybe as a fruit bowl because you will peel the fruit anyway. Though my mind starts to question, would the lead leach into the fruit skins and get in my hands when I peel them and then from my hands end up somewhere it shouldn't.. I don't know. If I and DD didn't have health issues as is, I would probably care a little less. After all, lead is already everywhere in the ground where our food is grown, and so on. Still, there is no safe amount established for lead. Even a little is poisonous. And it cumulates in our bodies. So, if there is some place where I can reduce or eliminate our exposure, I should, right?
Right now, we don't have dinner plates. The small plates and bowls can do for now, until I decide what plates to get. I'm thinking about Ikea Arv plates that are discontinued now, but I can find them secondhand if I wait a little. They have the pretty vintage farmhouse style with a scalloped edge, but are still quite simple. Or if I decide to go for the series we have already, then that is Iittala / Arabia 24h. I really love the utter simplicity of them, but they also pair well with more ornate pieces. The color is not stark white, so the new plates should at least have the same ivory shade. I'm on a shopping ban, but if I can find dinner plates for us second hand for cheap, then I will buy those.
I think I'm going to keep a few of my favorite plates though, either to hang on the kitchen wall, or to use as a serving plate with cupcakes, or so that I put a napkin underneath what I'm serving. That would be three or four plates. I also have a lovely wonky antique ironstone cake stand, which I may keep. The cake could be put on top of a cake paper.
Do you use vintage / antique dishes?
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