Lead in Drinking Glasses
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Lead in Drinking Glasses
Is there lead and or cadmium in my glassware?
Cadmium can cause cancer, and studies have also linked it to bone softening and severe kidney problems. Lead and/or cadmium in glassware are more pervasive than you might think.
Lead oxide makes glass easier to melt and manipulate and makes it more beautiful, but it's now discouraged for food storage.
Many people argue that the amount of lead that makes its way into beverages depends on the amount of time the liquid has spent inside the vessel. While it’s true that the lead content in a liquid can increase over time, studies have shown that no amount of lead is safe for consumption. So, is it safe to drink out of lead crystal? Probably not.
Is there Lead and Cadmium in Glassware?
It’s not just old leaded glass, old china teacups and coffee cups, but it’s also printed glasses and funware associated with giveaways at fast food restaurants. Funware has characters on them like Winnie the Poo, coca-cola, star wars, and Shrek.
Last year, McDonald's recalled 12 million Shrek-themed glasses because the painted designs contained cadmium, researchers found.
Dr. Andrew Turner of the University of Plymouth UK, along with his researchers analyzed 72 new and second-hand decorated drinking glasses, including tumblers, beer and wine glasses, and jars.
"The presence of hazardous elements in both the paint and glaze of decorated glassware has obvious implications for both human health and the environment. So, it was a real surprise to find such high levels of lead and cadmium, both on the outside of the glassware and around the rim," said study leader Dr. Turner.
"I would imagine the U.S. would have a similar problem, especially when many products are imported from Asia," Turner continued.
The presence of heavy metals within the range of sensitive detection devices isn't necessarily dangerous, but Turner found some rims with lead concentrations more than a thousand times the safe limits.
Turner's findings have more to do with lead enamel, flecks of which came off in simulations created to match the use and cleaning that should be realistically expected.
The US Office of Environmental Health and Hazard Assessment considers concentrations of lead above 200 parts per million (ppm) in the lip area to be unsafe, while cadmium is safe up to 800 ppm. In Science of The Total Environment, Turner reports findings as high as 400,000 ppm for lead – meaning the glass' rim was 40 percent lead, while the highest cadmium concentration was a terrifying 70,000 ppm. Weak acids, such as vinegar or Coca-cola, easily stripped the metals, releasing them for consumption.
"Why are harmful or restricted elements still being employed so commonly to decorate contemporary glassware manufactured in China, the European Union and elsewhere?" Turner said.
"Consumers should be made aware of this, while retailers and the glass industry have the responsibility to eliminate toxic metals from decorated products," Turner added.
What are Safe Alternatives to Leaded Glass?
There are plenty of glassware collections that are designed to mimic the classic style of lead crystals, without any of the hazardous material included. What do you do with your fun printed glassware? Place it out for show, but don’t use them… or simply throw them away. Save you and your child from harm of cadmium and lead poisoning.