This article was originally published October of 2015. It was last updated October 28, 2018
If you are wondering if your old Pyrex dishes contain lead or are still safe to use in your kitchen, you have come to the right place!
I grew up using (what are now considered) vintage Pyrex bowls and baking in vintage Pyrex dishes.
In fact, my mom and grandmother both owned a set of the same colorful Pyrex nesting mixing bowls shown above.
These were the same Pyrex bowls I hoped to own one day as well.
My whole life, these colorful Pyrex mixing bowls have been my very favorite to use.
As a child, I learned how to cook eggs in a microwave in the little blue one. I’ve made a hundred batches or more of muffins, cookies, and pancake batter in the big yellow one.
Here is picture of me with my mom making a pie crust in the green one:
I get it when people are upset about a documentary filmmaker telling them that there is lead in their Pyrex bowls and dishes.
These things are part of people’s childhood memories. These Pyrex bowls remind people of their grandmother – and nobody messes with memories of Grandma!
Beyond Grandma, a lot of people collect vintage Pyrex bowls and baking dishes.
Not only are these pieces beautiful, but they make people feel connected to their mothers and grandmothers by using their kitchen items.
To be told these things associated with so many happy feelings is possibly poisoning them is hard to hear.
Some people (like me) even started collecting vintage pyrex as a safe alternative to plastic kitchenware – and to learn they were wrong in that regard is hurtful, frustrating and embarrassing.
The problem is, that once you know that there is lead in the coating of your vintage Pyrex bowls (or Anchor Hocking dish or similar dishware) you have to decide what to do next.
Is there lead in vintage Pyrex bowls and baking dishes?
Yes. Almost all vintage Pyrex bowls and baking dishes test positive for large amounts of lead. When using an XRF (a precision scientific instrument that will report the exact quantity of lead, cadmium and other heavy metals found in an item) results are typically 40,000-100,000 PPM lead (anything over 90PPM lead is considered unsafe).
This type of test works by getting part of the surface coating (usually paint) to rub off onto the swab.
It is important to note that 3M LeadCheck Swabs can only accurately test certain kinds of things.
It is possible that you might test your vintage Pyrex bowl with a swab and it won’t turn red even if the dish contains a high amount of lead.
Where is the lead in vintage Pyrex bowls and baking dishes?
The highest concentration of lead is usually in the paint on the outside of the Pyrex bowl or dish.
With some very rare exceptions, the paint on the outside of both vintage Pyrex and vintage Corningware bowls and baking dishes will usually test positive for lead between 15,000 – 100,000 PPM lead.
For reference, 90 PPM is the highest amount of lead allowed in items intended for children and if house paint has more than 600 PPM lead, it is considered “lead paint” and needs remediation.
15,000 PPM lead is a LOT of lead.
100,000 PPM lead means that a full 10% of the paint formula is pure lead.
That is a LOT of lead.
Do you have vintage Pyrex dishes? Check the Lead Safe Mama website to see if a pattern you own has tested positive for lead: See if your vintage Pyrex design has tested positive for lead.
Most of her lead tests are performed with a non-radioactive source XRF instrument which can detect exact quantities of lead, cadmium and other heavey metals in the single digit parts-per-million (PPM).
Does the milk glass used in vintage Pyrex contain lead?
The milk glass interiors used in many vintage Pyrex and Anchor Hocking pieces commonly contain lead.
The lead in milk glass is probably inert and trapped in the glass, however, no lab tests are currently being done on these vintage pieces so we have no way to know for sure if these pieces are safe for food contact.
It is probable that using vintage milk glass with highly acidic foods or using glass that is scratched may release some of the lead contained in the glass — as these are common ways lead is able to leach from glass.
The problem is that as you use the dish, there is no way to tell that you’ve reached the point where your bowl or dish is leaching lead.
How to tell if Pyrex is vintage?
When I talk about lead in vintage Pyrex, I am talking about Pyrex manufactured between the 1940’s and the 1980’s.
Classic signs of vintage Pyrex include:
- White opaque or milk glass body
- Painted outsides
The information in this post does not necessarily apply to modern Pyrex, which generally has a clear glass or tinted (but translucent) body.
Is vintage Pyrex safe to use?
The short answer to this is “I wouldn’t use it.”
“I don’t cook with the outside of the bowl so I’m fine.” – Facebook user
People insisted that since food doesn’t come in contact with the outside of the bowls, these tests do nothing more than drum up fear.
The problem is, that if lead is coming off onto a Lead Check Swab, that means it IS rubbing off – in small, even microscopic (but still dangerous) amounts – and it becomes available to be transferred to your mouth, eyes, or even your child’s food or body.
Even though you can’t see it….every time you touch it…every time you stack it inside another dish…every time you run it through the dishwasher…every time you wipe it with a rag…lead is being sloughed off into your environment.
All of these actions will release a microscopic amount of lead from the paint that can contaminate your environment.
Since these kinds of things tend to happen in your kitchen, using your vintage Pyrex bowls that are lead contaminated will just continue to contaminate your kitchen space!
If you carry the dish to the table and a micro amount of lead comes off on your hands and then you turn around and start preparing your child’s food, you’re spreading that contamination.
If you child touches the dish as it’s being passed around the table and gets lead on their hands and then puts their hands in their mouth, they’ve just ingested lead.
As much as I really wish I could tell you that your vintage Pyrex is still safe to use around your family, I would strongly advise against it.
Even though the amount of paint transferred with each use is small (so small you won’t be able to see it), these tiny amounts of lead build up in our bodies and can have irreversible side effects – especially in children.
Is lead really that big of a deal?
“It’s not like my kids are eating paint chips.” – Facebook user
While chances that you will get acute lead poisoning from using vintage Pyrex are minimal, do not underestimate the damage exposure to tiny amounts of lead can do over time.
As lead accumulates in the body, it can cause irreversible damage.
Young children are the ones most prone to lead damage as their nervous systems are still developing.
Common side effects in children exposed to low levels of lead over time include:
- Reduced IQ
- Behavior problems
- Hearing problems
- Learning difficulties
- Growth delays
Knowing that most lead poisoning is not acute, but rather, happens in very small, microscopic doses over time, I personally try to avoid using any lead containing products in my home because no beautiful object is worth the risk to my family’s health.
How can I tell if my Vintage Pyrex bowl contains lead?
The Lead Safe Mama has a catalog of items she has tested for lead on her website.
I would start by looking there to see if the Pyrex dish you own is one that has already been tested.
Keep in mind that these results are not exhaustive.
Tamara (Lead Safe Mama) has tested thousands of items over the last decade and has only somewhat recently started cataloging the results on her website.
Can I test my vintage Pyrex bowls and other vintage Pyrex dishes for lead at home?
This swab contains both liquid and powder inside a plastic tube.
When you crush the inner tubes (think: like cracking a glow stick to activate it), the fluid can be used to test things for lead.
To use it, rub an activated swab on a suspicious item, being sure the fluid is in full contact with the item.. If the swab turns red or pink, then the item contains 600 PPM or more of lead.
It is important to keep in mind that there are limitations to how well you can use this to test vintage dishes for lead.
They work by rubbing a very small amount of paint off onto the swab where it reacts (or not) with the fluid to produce a positive or negative test result.
LeadCheck swabs are, therefore NOT effective at testing:
- Shiny glazes
- Glass
- Milk glass
- Plastic
If you are able to get a LeadCheck swab to return a positive result on any of the above items, that would mean that the item is likely very high lead AND that lead rubs off easily.
Definitely not something you want to have at home!
It would, however, be appropriate to use on the painted exterior of vintage Pyrex dishes.
LeadCheck swabs are really designed to test for leaded house paint.
The level the federal government of the United States of America has set for a paint to be considered “lead paint” is 600 PPM.
The level of lead that both I and Lead Safe Mama refer to as “the level of concern” for household items is only 90 PPM (this is the guideline set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission for items intended for children).
So even if you are testing the right kind of thing with your Lead Check Swab, if it contains 550 PPM (610% more lead than the maximum amount allowed by the CPSC for children’s items!), your swab will not turn pink or red even if the item is leaded.
In general, a good rule of thumb for testing your vintage Pyrex (or other items) for lead is that if the swab turns red, it DEFINITELY has lead.
If the swab does NOT turn red, it still might have lead and further investigation is needed.
Do not make the assumption that a negative LeadCheck Swab means your item is lead safe.
What about that Snopes article?
Click here to read more about my response to Snopes and how they missed the key piece of information they needed in order to cover this issue accurately.
About the Author:
Carissa is an award-winning green and sustainably lifestyle writer and TV personality based in the Pacific Northwest.
She and her projects have been featured on The Today Show, Readers Digest, Urban Farm Magazine, Capper’s Farmer and more. Follow her on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok or join the Creative Green Living Community Group on Faceboook.
