Did you know that the plates you eat off of every day may contain lead, but State and Federal law may not require manufacturers or retailers to tell you about it?
Bill Gephardt spent some time shopping for plates. His investigation found brand new plates are sold every day in Utah that contain lead.
But there is no labeling requirement that anyone tell you. I know if I have a choice, I’d prefer to eat off of plates that contain no lead.
I bought some brand new plates. Some contain lead and some don’t. I know this because I’ve tested them. Can you tell which ones in your cupboard at home contain lead?
Vanessa is a technician with Kenyon Consulting, a Draper, Utah company which tests for lead contamination. They use an X.R.F., which is an X-ray Florescent device used to measure for lead.
I went over to Wal-Mart to buy various plates; all were listed as dishwasher and microwave safe.
The packaging for all the plates contained the symbol CCIB. It stands for China Commodity Inspection Bureau.
It assures the consumer that the plates have been tested in China, and meet United States Food and Drug Administration standards to be in compliance for levels of leachable lead.
I brought my plates to the team at Kenyon Consulting with the simple question: do these plates contain lead?
If the X.R.F. gun reads less than a one, there is no detectable lead in the plates.
“That is positive,” says Vanessa of Kenyon Consulting, “at 2.9.”
“Wow. So there is lead in those,” I said.
“Yes,” she replied.
And it was the same thing again and again. “That’s 5.2,” continued Vanessa with other samples, “4.8”.
Now, some of the plates tested with no lead in them whatsoever.
“That’s zero,” discovered Vanessa.
The plates are imported by Gibson Overseas, and distributed to many U.S. stores, including some of the HomeTrends brands at Wal-Mart.
I took the plates I bought and tested to Gibson Overseas corporate office here in Los Angeles to find out if they even knew the plates they were distributing from China seemed to contain lead.
When a company official emerged, it was clear he didn’t want to talk about the lead in the Gibson Overseas plates.
“I’m from Salt Lake City and I bought some plates that were at Wal-Mart,” I told him, “and they had lead in them”.
“We don’t want to talk about this,” he replied. “It’s something that if there’s anything... you need to please you have to leave.
I asked, “Can you tell me why you import lead paint?”
“No,” he replied.
“Well, can I sit down? Can we sit down,” I asked.
“I’ll call security,” he countered. “If i need to call the Sheriffs, I’ll call the Sheriffs.”
“Well you don’t have to do that,” I told him. “I just want to know why you have lead in these.”
“No. I know we have a system,” he replied. “Please work through the system.”
“People don’t have to have lead in there do they,” I asked
“No, we are in compliance,” he replied. “We are in total compliance with every requirement.”
OK. So, they say they are in compliance. Well, I’ve got an idea. If they’re going to put out plates that contain lead, how about if they put up a little sign that says “contains lead, but in compliance”, and others that say contain “no lead”? That way when we buy, we can decide.
That question got the Gibson Overseas company door shut in my face.
I finish with one last question, “let me just ask this. Can you put labels on these things to let people know?”
“I don’t want to talk about that, because we know what we’re doing,” he finished. “So, please excuse us for this time.”
I called WalMart’s corporate public relations people and explained my findings more than once, beginning more than 2 weeks ago. They have not returned my calls to make any comment.
OK, so our tests confirm that there is lead in the plates. Do you suppose any is actually leaching out? To find out, we took our plates to DataChem labs in Salt Lake.
Chemist Robert Aullman used an acid solution similar to that of vinegar on 3 different plates for 24 hours. The solution is the standard set by the Food and Drug Administration to test for lead leaching.
A second plate, Aullman scratched and chipped the glaze coating, trying to simulate usage.
And on the third plate, the chemist placed the same solution, but heated it in an oven to 85 degrees.
And the results in each case, lead leached out of the plates.
Anything below .021 parts per million is considered undetectable. The first, the cold plate, showed .023, or very little lead leaching. On the second, the chipped plate, .044 parts per million.
And the heated plate in the oven, showed nearly 10 times that amount of lead leached out, .381 parts per million.
The Food and Drug Administration says anything below 2.0 is acceptable.
So, all of the plates which we tested for leaching lead are considered acceptable to the Federal Government, and require no labeling.
Is that acceptable to you? Do your everyday plates contain lead? There is no dedicated company or agency that just tests plates. But I might be able to arrange testing if there is enough interest.
If you are interested, click on the attached link to leave an email. For parents interesting in learning more about lead in dinnerware, we have several links under 2News links.
Copyright 2007 Four Points. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
A flurry of concern across Utah from people who saw our Get Gephardt investigation, which exposed lead is in some china plates sold in stores.
The big question is does your plate contain lead?
Bill Gephardt has arranged a way for you to find out.
Our investigation showed that some plates you can buy in stores right now, and those in your cupboard, may contain lead.
And worse, our tests found that lead was leaching out.
But they are still in compliance of Federal law.
When Heather Potter saw my investigation Monday night, she had a particular concern.
She has 7 children, and is now 7 months pregnant.
A year ago, she bought, and now uses, one of those sets of plates that I showed contain lead.
"I’ve got to be as healthy as possible," says Heather. "To find out that just eating dinner could be harming my baby, right now, is not thrilling at all."
Heather is only one of more than a thousand people who called or wrote after my investigation.
"It should be listed as lead in them," says Heather.
And that’s the worst part.
It seems stores and distributors don’t have to tell which plates contain lead, and which don’t. And they in compliance.
I went to a local WalMart and bought some plates.
These are distributed by the Gibson Overseas company in Los Angeles, and are imported from China.
When we took them to the DataChem testing laboratories, the chemist found lead was, in fact, leaching out of the plates.
Anything below .021 is considered undetectable.
But a cold plate with a Federal government standard acid test showed .023 parts per million. Very little lead leaching.
A second chipped and scratched plate showed .044 parts per million.
And a plate heated to 85 degrees showed 10 times that amount of lead leached out at .381 parts per million.
The government, meanwhile, says anything below 2.0 is acceptable.
I visited the headquarter for Gibson Overseas, Inc., "I have plates that you have imported that contain lead."
They didn’t want to talk about it, but, indeed, as they escorted me to the exit, an official did say they are in compliance.
"I just want to know why you have lead in these," I said.
"No, I know we have a system," he responded. "Please work through the system."
"People don’t have to have lead in their do they," I asked.
He responded by saying "we are in compliance. We are in total compliance with every requirement."
Back in Utah, "these kids, they’re goinng to be harmed by this," says Heather Potter.
So, being in compliance is of little comfort to Heather.
She says "it should at least be labeled. Let us choose."
And that’s the problem.
Because I’ve found there are no laws that require china makers to declare whether or not their plates contain lead.
So, do your plates contain lead?
I got your 1,200 emails, so far.
Because of the overwhelming demand, I have made arrangements to have your plates tested to see if they contain lead.
The people at Kenyon Consulting have agreed to test your plates for free.
This Friday, between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM, come down to our main street studios in downtown Salt Lake City.
The address is 299 South Main Street, at the back of the Wells Fargo Center.
There are several parking lots in the area, or you can take TRAX right to our front door.
To be fair to everyone, Kenyon Consulting is limiting the tests to five items per person.
Copyright 2007 Four Points. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Here you go. There is now a 4th article on the subject.
link
Lead Plate Story Getting National Attention
Folks turned out in droves to the 2News studios to test their dishes and toys for lead.
Folks turned out in droves to the 2News studios to test their dishes and toys for lead.
Related Links
* Lead Plate Testing Results
Did you know that there is a one in three chance that the dinnerware on your table every night may contain lead?
Our investigation proved that last week. And now, Bill Gephardt's investigation is getting the attention of the United States House of Representatives.
Wouldn't it be nice if the makers and distributors of plates that contain lead simply tells us? Tell us if they contain lead, or if they do not.
That way, we could decide if we wanted to buy leaded plates to serve our families, or plates with no lead.
That's what I proposed today to one of our Congressmen, who was outraged when he saw my investigation...
Look at all of the people who lined up in the Salt Lake County complex Tuesday.
Many here to get their dinnerware tested for lead.
"OK. That's 5.77," said a technician from Kenyon Consulting. "So, it's a little on the upper end."
Char Ohlson told us "It's scary. I don't think they should allow this kind of content in them."
It is all in response to my investigation a week ago where I showed you how several plates that I purchased tested positive for containing lead.
And worse, when we took them to a lab, we found lead was actually leaching out of them.
Then Friday, you showed up to our Main Street Studios by the hundreds as we arranged to have your plates tested for lead.
The results: 30% of the plates we tested showed positive for containing lead.
I brought my plates to the team at Kenyon Consulting with the simple question, do these plates contain lead?
Today, I showed my reports to U.S. Representative Jim Matheson.
"I'm outraged and also surprised," said Representative Matheson. "I didn't know about this. This is the first I've heard of it."
Congressman Matheson is on the Energy and Commerce Committee.
That is the House Regulatory Committee which sets the requirements for the Food and Drug Administration when it comes to lead.
"I'm going to bring the lead plate issue into that because that's where we look at the F.D.A. and I just don't think the status quo is acceptable," remarked Matheson.
I told Matheson I would like to see labels identifying lead in plates.
"I agree that number one I'd like the label," he said. "But I question if the amount of lead that is determined to be in compliance or not. I want to know if that's the right number."
Upon request of Matheson, I gave the Congressman a copy of my story to play for his colleagues in Washington.
Char Ohlson agrees with labels on plates, "Everything labeled correctly so this should be correctly labeled also, right?"
And that is exactly what Congressman Jim Matheson says he will ask his committee to look into when they meet in January.
Now, while Congress is figuring out what, if anything, to do, the question everyone has been asking me: what dishes should i buy?
I don't know. The one thing I learned from our test on Friday is that there is no one good answer.
But, if you would like to see the list I compiled and judge for yourself, I have made it available (HERE).
But unless the Federal Government changes the rules for manufacturers of dishes requiring they say "contains lead" on the box, the list becomes more and more outdated every day.
Copyright 2007 Four Points. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
