Post #49813 by Saint-Thomas on Mon, Sep 1, 2003 6:42 AM

King has some good info there on lead. The only thing I would add is that it is incredibly difficult to formulate a durable glaze wihtout lead compared to one with it. Consequently, major glaze manufacturers still use it. They pay $$thousands$$ every month for testing, testing, and more testing to make sure they don't get busted by the FDA or EPA. Lead is in very small amounts in just about any commercial plate, bowl, mug you own.
My philosophy is to not worry about it too much. These guidlines have been around for a short time and my great-grandmother just died last year at the age of 104, not due to lead exposure. And we know she owned some leaded plates in her time...

BTW.. if a small producer tells you that there's no lead, see if they make their own glaze. If so, then they are telling the truth because we can't afford expensive testing (or litigation !!), so we just don't keep lead in the studio. Simple.

[ Edited by: Saint-Thomas on 2003-09-01 06:43 ]