My antique dishes were all made in the United States. Doesn’t that mean they’re safe to use for food?
No. Lead has many useful purposes. It provides brilliance to paint colors that are used for many different kinds of objects, including dishes. It also provides great durability. Because of these qualities, lead has been used for thousands of years. So old dishes manufactured in the United States could have been painted or decorated with lead when they were first made. These dishes can be an even more serious hazard for your family today. Many dishes that were manufactured in the United States contain lead and dishes imported from Mexico and other Latin American countries are a particular hazard.
