Bought hand-made Italian plates at a garage sale; can they be a lead hazard?

I don't know how old they are or who made them, but they look highly unusual. They have a round stamp: "Made in Italy, Hand Made", appear to be made out of red clay or terra cotta, with unusually looking white glaze background (hence my fear of lead) and hand-painted fish on top of the glaze. Pretty cute actually.

Would you think they are safe? Too many lead scandals recently kinda make me paranoid a bit. Asked by :-) 52 months ago Similar questions: Bought hand made Italian plates garage sale lead hazard Arts > Sewing, Craft & Hobby.

Similar questions: Bought hand made Italian plates garage sale lead hazard.

You can test for lead yourself There are chemical tests for lead. You can buy a kit that you can use to test them yourself. There was a news story a number years ago about how many pottery glazes contain lead, so it is a concern.

You should be all right with anything made in the U.S. in the last dozen years or so (but is anything made here any more? ). Italy is known for good ceramics, so I conjecture that their products are safe, but better safe than sorry.

Anyway, you should be able to find a test kit on line or in a hardware store. You can also have the pieces lab tested if you don't trust the kits. Sources: Looking around IchtheosaurusRex's Recommendations Professioal Lab #LS104 Pro Surface Lead Test Kit Amazon List Price: $11.75 Here's one .

You are right to be concerned. You can buy a kit to test the plates. If the glaze was not applied and cured correctly, it could leach lead onto the food on the plate.

There are kits you can buy that can test for lead. I would test once a year, or whenever you see damage to the glaze from chips or scrapes. Be sure the plates are clean and dry before you test them.

I hope this helps Sources: URL1 Manimal's Recommendations Homax Household Lead Test Kit #005250 Amazon List Price: $11.99 Average Customer Rating: 2.5 out of 5 (based on 2 reviews) Mineral Check .

Test the plates wtov9.com/news/4230412/detail.html Lead-blood levels in Americans have plummeted over the years, yet there are still nearly a million children in the United States who have enough lead in their blood to cause irreversible damage to their health. The centers for disease control says fighting the problem means eliminating lead paint in homes and restricting some table ware and other products. Some decorative plates have labels on them others do not and what's surprising is that there's no law saying they have to.

Not even on plates designed for children, sold in stores you shop in everyday. Local mom Lisa Rechen says couldn't believe it, lead in dishes, "Well how much should I worry about lead in plates? " Right now, California is the only state by law that requires china companies to attach these warning labels to their products.So, how do you protect your family?

One way is to check for a label, for instance, local company Homer Laughlin puts on its products a label indicating they are lead free. Another option, you can also buy a lead test at your local hardware store and test your plates. According to the directions, rub the swab over the plate for 30 seconds, if the tip turns pink, there is lead in the plate.

Lisa Rechen says she'll be keeping a closer eye on the dishes she buys, "Well gosh if I were to buy them at the store I would trust they were safe to eat off of even for children. " Labs also test for lead by using an acid leach test. The acidic solution is added to the dishware to determine how much lead could leach out of these decorated areas.

The food and drug administration has an allowable 3 parts per million on plates. Lisa says she was surprised by her findings from the home test, "If they put it in plates surprises me that they wouldn't find it safe enough for kids." The food and drug administration says it cannot comment specifically on the results of these tests.

According to the FDA, as long as the decorations were 2 centimeters from the lip of the glass, the FDA did not regulate it... The CDC says lead can lead to kidney problems, as well as problems with the nervous and reproductive systems and is shown to cause high blood pressure. Sources: wtov9.com/news/4230412/detail.html .

I just bought one at a garage sale" "What is your best buy from a garage sale?" "I bought what was said to be a pewter picture frame at a garage sale. It is stamped 251, is it really pewter? " "Garage Sale.

I bought what was said to be a pewter picture frame at a garage sale. It is stamped 251, is it really pewter?

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.