Steph I have no idea on the safety. I would think now a days they would not be able to sell them if they were not safe. I do know they are gorgeous.There are plates too.

Chris

steph, i love that you think about this! I research so many of my purchases for safety, had to return a whole rubbermaid set once because of chemical leeching in the plastic :)

I haven't seen anything on these particular bowls but I can tell you (I threw ceramics for years) that if a glaze has lead in it it is usually a metallic finish and is labeled not for food use! I would be SHOCKED if these glazes had lead in them, really and truly shocked. I'd say go for it, they're adorable :)

desertsteph, you can get inexpensive swab testing kits for lead. You could test the bowls, and possibly return them if you found a positive reaction. I love those colors.

i was just scanning some things on kohl's site and saw those bowls. that's something I don't have many of - some old plastic ones (ugh).

I do think about things like the lead - and where they're made. I found a blog that had them on it - the person bought some and her thought was at least made in Portugal and not China! me too! I try not to buy stuff from China - especially if it has anything to do with eating, food etc. Not even my dog's toys!

I also stopped using plastic in the mw some time ago.

enigma - I have some ceramics I should throw - out I think. do you know if 30 yr old greenware is any good? would anyone fire it?

mama - where would I buy a kit like that? I could check some of my mugs also then.

Shades of Idaho sez:"I have no idea on the safety. I would think now a days they would not be able to sell them if they were not safe. "

Actually, if they came from China or from Mexico, I would have my doubts as to food safe status. The lead would be in the glaze, not in the clay.

But, you can pick up a lead testing kit at the store or order it online, and you'd only need to test ONE of them. Especially the red glazes I would say could more likely than others have lead. When I fired ceramics, I liked to make bowls for food usage. And when I added a new glaze to my repertoire, I would do a test piece in the kiln and then run a lead safe test on that sample. The lead might be added to some glazes to make it fire smoothly and melt at lower temps. I usually looked for glazes which said they were food safe. But even then, I tested the final fired glaze with each NEW paint. Once it was tested, I could count on it to be generally food safe if it was fired to the right temp. The problem with many low firing clays is that they do not fire up to what we called a Cone 5 to make it food safe. That was some years back, don't know how the cone system works today.

Especially on items which will be used for acidic foods, you must realize that the lead will leach out more than in a water glass or coffee cup. OJuice is probably the worst to leach out lead if it is present.

If you can take a look at the boxes or read the labels on the actual products at Kohl's or whatever store is selling them, I would look for that information.

desertsteph, I don't buy non-American made pet toys/food either :) Honestly I wouldn't use the greenware without testing it. I think it was the 70's before the FDA started regulating lead content at all...lead is in glazes for the same reason it's in paint, it just makes a superior finish, of course people didn't think about it being hazardous. For your peace of mind if nothing else I would get those tests (leadinspector.com has them, you could probably find them even cheaper though if you look around) so that you can enjoy the greenware and not have to think about it. moccasin is absolutely right, the brighter colors in older dinnerware are much more likely to contain lead...some colors of old fiestaware is actually radioactive!

desertsteph, the kits, called LEAD CHECK, come in two-packs, made by Homax Products, Inc. www.homaxproducts.com 800-729-9029.

They were bought online, but my hubby can't remember the exact price, "They were cheap." Here's a link to homax, but the LEAD CHECK section is coming up blank--maybe you can contact customer service.

WALMART also sells kits for around $13.00.

Here is a link that might be useful: HOMAX PRODUCTS

thanks everyone - such good info! 13.000 at W sounds fine to me! and it's not far from me - I'm in there about 2x a wk anyway.
the bowls are a lot cheaper than I expected - and with % off at kohl's they'll be cheaper than the price listed on their site. will have to drag my sister over there w/her charge if she gets more off for using a kohl's card. I might pop over there tomorrow and see if they have some in the store.

it's too hot here and I get too tired too quickly to do much when I go out so I go out and do about 3 things and come home and stay in my a/c room! hopefully I'll have a whole a/c'd house soon...

oh, and something is wrong with my driver's side door and I can't open it from the outside. I have to crawl over the passenger seat and open it from within then get out and walk back around and get in on the driver's side... that's a lot of hassle to get in/out many times. Today I left the door open (slightly) at the bank, gas station and at Quiznos.

and when it cools down here (at least to 105) I'll swing by the mechanic shop and see what he can do about the door - and the non working a/c in the car! it was 114 today...

Steph, I bought one of those lead testing kits at Home Depot a few years ago and bet they still have them.

thx marti8a - I've been needing to go to HD too, so maybe i can get there next week.

Hey, Steph, you be careful in that heat! I wouldn't be surprised that a plastic part in your door latch MELTED in the heat. Gadzooks, you sure do need some SHADE CLOTH or maybe a sailshade.

My DH tells me that up in Mass, they are frequently near 100 degrees and that is worse than here in Alabama.

I suppose global warming is one way to prevent a return to the ICE AGE.....

Oh Steph, be careful. I guess you are somewhat acclimated to the heat, but it can still sneak up on you. I went off yesterday with a friend to have lunch. The a/c in her car was acting up and before we got back home I was so sick I actually thought I was going to pass out! I came in, turned the fan on full blast until I cooled down. I still had the 'sick headache' when I went to bed.
Maybe you could go to the store when its cooler. Is it open 24/7?
The bowls are beautiful. I love the southwestern style - its so colorful and cheerful.

thx ladies! after taking my girl out 2 or 3 times in the heat, filling boy's pool and cleaning up the pen I decided to wait til the sun goes down to go to kohl's and HD.

kohl's is open til 10pm anyway, so I'll head over there about 7pm. I only want to check out the bowls there. if HD is open til 9pm (i'll check on that) then I'll swing by there before heading home. it's all w/i 10 miles of me and roads (2) that I've been driving for 14 yrs now - and little traffic.

LeadCheck swabs are actually made by Hybrivet Systems. Homax was a distributor of ours for awhile, but no longer is. Hybrivet Systems was founded in 1987 by Dr. Marcia Stone, a dedicated spokeswoman and pioneer of lead-safety. At Hybrivet Systems, we are passionately and tirelessly campaigning to raise public awareness on the dangers of lead-exposure and the importance of testing for lead in high-risk areas. Our test kits are inexpensive, easy to use, reliable, and above all accurate.

There are actually many household items that may contain concentrations of lead. Ceramics, mugs, glasses, cups, porcelain enameled bathtubs, toys, jewelry, and vinyl mini-blinds are just a few of these.

For more information, please visit our website. We also have an informative blog called The Lead Thread.

If you would like to purchase some of our LeadCheck swabs, please feel free to call 508-651-7881. You can buy directly from us.

Here is a link that might be useful: LeadCheck

thx rian. I saved the website to use to see what else I might have that I should check!

the bowl saga...
on sunday I asked the clerk how long the sale was on. she said Wednesday. so I figured they'd still be on sale on Wed. They weren't. i met my sister there - she loved them also and wanted the oatmeal bowls for her dh's morning oatmeal...she had an additional 20 or 30% off of the sale price.
Since not on sale we're just going to wait til they go on sale again. She said most of the stuff goes on sale every few wks. We'll see... I'll wait anyway because they'd just be one more box to more right now!

the big plates are rather heavy for me so won't be getting the whole dish set. I'll just have to be content with the bowls - for cereal, ice cream, chili and soups.

Boy, I would have a hard time believing Bobby Flay would put his name on anything that had lead in it. You can never be too safe, but I would seriously doubt you need to worry unless they specifically say "not for consumption" or something.

I'll get a testing kit once I'm settled - I have other dishes I should check out also.