Getting the Lead Out
I live in California, the land of Prop 65. Prop 65 is the law that requires businesses to notify people when a product may contain a “significant” amount of a harmful chemical on the Prop 65 list. The most recent list, updated on April 18, is 23 pages long. I scrolled through this list and it is enough to make me want to stop buying almost anything.
I can hardly walk into any retail store now without seeing the Prop 65 warning sign, as big as life, near the store entrance window. Some shops even go as far as posting the warning on specific items. I like that better because at least I can make a more informed decision.
My current chemical of concern however, is lead. You know, the one chemical that was banned from household paints in 1978. But somehow it still shows up in products such as children’s toys, cheap jewelry, cosmetics, ceramic pottery (dishes, cups, etc.) and of course very expensive lead crystal wine glasses.
Of the many items that may still contain various levels of lead, there is only one that I use more than once a day. Those are my dishes. My own dishes became the main source of my recent obsession with lead based products. I had (note the past tense) all kinds of cool colored pottery and ceramic dishes that I used to eat from and to entertain with. I researched the heck out of the brand of my dishes and could not find out if they contained “safe levels of lead.” I also asked myself if there is such a thing as a safe level and would I keep them if I knew what level they contained.
So as much as I loved my beautifully colored dishes, I dumped them in favor of Made.In.America.Lead-Free.Clear-Glass.Dishes. It is just not worth the risk to expose myself to any level of lead leaching into my body multiple times a day. I also plan to get my blood tested for heavy metals and toxins such as lead. I want to make sure that I have gotten all the lead out.
