Fighting The Poison That Never Went Away, by Linda Bonvie

This is disturbing; our pots and pans may pose a danger. From Linda Bonvie at rescue.substack.com:

Out of residential paints for decades, lead still haunts our homes in modern-day pots, pans, dishes, and even baby bottles. Washington State answered with the first-ever ban on lead-tainted cookware.

Tamara Rubin, “Lead Safe Mama,” at a testing party for eight people, organized by a mother who wanted to ensure her cookware was safe for children. She discovered lead, and “Tamara’s instrument also detected cadmium, a known carcinogen, and antimony, which has been shown to cause cancer in rats, as well as mercury, arsenic and other metals.”

You might call lead the poison we’ve long since recognized and stopped worrying about. Having removed it from gasoline and residential paints decades ago, we’re apt to think the dangers posed by this potent neurotoxin, which is especially devastating to infants and young children, have also gone away.

But the truth is, they haven’t.

This heavy metal, which the EPA describes as being able to impact “nearly every organ system in humans,” is still in our homes, water, consumer goods, and environment. You can find lead in your kitchen in both old and new dishware, in shiny pots and pans from retailers such as Target and Walmart, and shockingly, even in the paint on some baby bottles. Supported by a powerful lobby that has changed its name and marketing tactics over the years, the business of lead has never been more profitable.

The ‘Mystery’ That Morphed Into Legislation

In March 2024, Washington became the first state to enact legislation limiting the amount of lead in cookware.

Applying to anything “intended for the preparation or storage of food,” House Bill 1551, which will take effect in 2026, prohibits the sale or distribution of cookware in the state containing lead that measures over five parts per million (ppm). Going beyond the FDA concept of “purity,” proof of lead leaching into food is not required.

While the FDA has the authority to remove any cookware it deems unsafe from the market, such determinations would be made on a “case by case basis,” said an FDA official. The agency has no specified lead level, leaching or otherwise, that would trigger an official action. And while the FDA is mainly concerned about food contact surfaces, the Washington state law covers all the “components” of cookware including lids, knobs, and handles.

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