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Because virtually everyone uses glazed china, this is one of the major potential sources of lead risk remaining in the American diet.
Potential risk factors include:
China handed down from a previous generation. These heirlooms were made before lead was recognized as a hazard.
Home-made or handcrafted china, either from the U.S. or abroad, unless you are sure the maker used a lead-free glaze or high-temperature, commercial firing practices.
Highly decorated, multi-colored inside surfaces (the part that touches the food and drink).
Decorations on top of the glaze instead of beneath it. Can you feel the decoration when you rub your fingers over it? When you hold the piece at an angle to the light, can you see brush strokes above the transparent glaze surface? Has the decoration begun to wear away?
Corroded glaze, or a dusty or chalky grey residue on the glaze after the piece has been washed. THIS TYPE OF CHINA COULD BE QUITE DANGEROUS. STOP USING IT AT ONCE.
I just bought a blanket and its made in China and i always sleep with it over my head so i'll probably throw it out as i don't want to breathe Lead at night.
I doubt if your blanket has lead in it. But my dishes do, and I know of a man that got lead poisoning from drinking out of glasses that contained lead and were made in Mexico. My doctor told me about it, and he was a doctor in Laredo, Texas when I lived there.
So what is lead poisoning?
http://www.aclppp.org/ceramic.htm (broken link)
This website talks about lead poisoning in dishes and how it accumulates in your body over time, and how in the U.S. it is required that you have a yellow triangle on the dish to show it has lead in it, but dishes from China do not have to have that mark.
Left untreated, lead poisoning can damage many internal organs, including the kidney, nervous system and brain. Because of the possibility of permanent impairment, lead poisoning is particularly dangerous during the critical development periods of infants and young children under the age of 7 years.
Symptoms of lead poisoning:
Fatigue
Depression
Heart failure
Abdominal pain
Gout
Kidney failure
High blood pressure
Wrist or foot weakness
Reproductive problems
Anemia
Thanks for the warning, Jessaka! I'll check my regular dinnerware, though if I'm not mistaken, I believe that it was made in Japan. It was a set I inherited from my mother-in-law. But, I think I have some cheaper plates in my other cupboard; it would be a good idea to check on them, to see where they were made, although fortunately, I don't hardly ever use those. My glasses are Anchor Hocking, made in the U.S., and I also have a set made in Ireland. So, I'm presuming those are okay.
China isn't the only country making dishes with lead. Even the U.S. used to do so. I just bought a set of corelle dishes made here and without lead. They are not pretty but we seem to like using the few we have. hopefully something else isn't wrong with them.
I have always wanted to buy handmade pottery, and if I ever find someone where I live that makes pottery that I like and that is lead free, I would consider buying them.
No offence intended but does anyone here think that lead leaches out of clear glass from Mexico? Like the bottles that Patron Tequila comes in. I don't, but I've been wrong before.
No offence intended but does anyone here think that lead leaches out of clear glass from Mexico? Like the bottles that Patron Tequila comes in. I don't, but I've been wrong before.
Good heavens! I sure hope not, 'cause we drink margaritas made with Patron Gold!
The glassware that has lead in Mexico are the ones with the blue trim around them, sometimes they come with a green trim. Also they have bowls that match. It wouldn't be in bottles that I would know of. It is in the glaze of things, like other things from Mexico like dishes with a glaze. I bought a set of dishes from Mexico that I love but will not eat out of. I hope to display them someday. I have also bought dishes that say no lead, but I gave them away. Waah! You also find lead in lead crystal. now that is a duh.
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Thanks for the warning, Jessaka! I'll check my regular dinnerware, though if I'm not mistaken, I believe that it was made in Japan. It was a set I inherited from my mother-in-law. But, I think I have some cheaper plates in my other cupboard; it would be a good idea to check on them, to see where they were made, although fortunately, I don't hardly ever use those. My glasses are Anchor Hocking, made in the U.S., and I also have a set made in Ireland. So, I'm presuming those are okay.
