Lead
A metal still found in glazes, solder, paint, imported ceramics and some older cookware. There is no level considered safe, and its effects on the developing brain are permanent. It cannot be tasted, smelled or seen.
Definition and health context from CDC.
We checked 3,681 products for lead and confirmed it in none, while 65 remain plausible and unresolved.
Where lead turns up
Categories we grade, worst first, as a share of what we scored in each.
| Category | Flagged | Scored | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cosmetics | 4 | 8 | 50% |
| Pizza Stones | 7 | 21 | 33% |
| Nail Polish & Top Coat | 3 | 15 | 20% |
| Dutch Ovens | 3 | 15 | 20% |
| Lipstick | 3 | 15 | 20% |
| Lip Balm | 9 | 55 | 16% |
| Blush | 2 | 15 | 13% |
| Foundation | 2 | 15 | 13% |
| Waterproof Mascara | 4 | 47 | 9% |
| Bundt Pans | 1 | 14 | 7% |
| Leather Conditioning & Care Products | 1 | 15 | 7% |
| Cast Iron Skillets | 1 | 15 | 7% |
| Concealer | 1 | 15 | 7% |
| Crepe Pans | 1 | 15 | 7% |
We confirmed it in nothing, and that is the finding
Every one of the 65 flags for lead in this database sits at possible. No published ingredient list, test result or recall in what we have read puts it in a specific product we grade. That is a genuine answer to the question, and it is different from saying the products are clean.
What to buy instead
Highest scoring products with no flag for it, in the categories where it is worst.
- bareMinerals bareMinerals Mineral Makeup100
- Le Creuset Le Creuset Signature Round Dutch Oven80
- Staub Staub Cast Iron 4-qt Round Cocotte80
- Lodge Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven Lodge80
- Lodge Essential Enamel Dutch Oven | Cornflower | 6 Quart | Lodge Cast Iron80
- Kitchenaid Kitchenaid Wall Oven Baking Stone W10696057 17.00 x 14.25 x 2.00 Genuine OEM at Sears PartsDirect75
How to spot lead yourself
What is actually visible to someone holding the product, which for most of these is the only check available.
- Almost never declared, because it is a contaminant rather than an ingredient.
- Bright yellow, orange and red glazes on imported or vintage ceramics, and any glaze that has gone chalky or dull.
- Painted decoration on the rim or the inside of a glass, which is where the mouth goes.
- Brass fittings and older solder anywhere water sits still overnight.
- A Proposition 65 warning on a product sold in California, which often means lead or cadmium.
Where it turns up outside our data
Glazed and imported ceramics, painted glassware, brass fittings, some spices and cocoa as growing or processing contamination, and traditional cosmetics such as kohl.
What the rules actually say
Banned from house paint in the United States since 1978 and from plumbing solder since 1986. The FDA sets action levels in candy and juice and issues guidance on ceramic ware, and California Proposition 65 forces a warning label above its own thresholds. The CDC states there is no known safe blood level in children.
Read alongside CDC and our state by state guide to PFAS bans.
Common questions
What is lead?
A metal still found in glazes, solder, paint, imported ceramics and some older cookware. There is no level considered safe, and its effects on the developing brain are permanent. It cannot be tasted, smelled or seen.
Which products contain lead?
We flagged 65 of 3,681 graded products as plausible, and confirmed it in none of them. That is worth stating plainly. It means the material or the category makes it credible and no independent result has ruled it out, not that we found it. Cosmetics carries the most plausible cases at 50%.
Is lead in cosmetics?
More than in anything else we grade. 4 of the 8 cosmetics we scored carry a flag for it, which is 50%. The full breakdown per product is on each product page.
What can I buy instead?
In the categories where it turns up most, the highest scoring products with no flag for it are bareMinerals bareMinerals Mineral Makeup at 100, Le Creuset Le Creuset Signature Round Dutch Oven at 80, Staub Staub Cast Iron 4-qt Round Cocotte at 80. Every one of those was graded on the same rubric as the products above.
How can I tell if a product has lead in it?
Almost never declared, because it is a contaminant rather than an ingredient. Bright yellow, orange and red glazes on imported or vintage ceramics, and any glaze that has gone chalky or dull. Painted decoration on the rim or the inside of a glass, which is where the mouth goes. It turns up in glazed and imported ceramics, painted glassware, brass fittings, some spices and cocoa as growing or processing contamination, and traditional cosmetics such as kohl.
Is lead banned?
Banned from house paint in the United States since 1978 and from plumbing solder since 1986. The FDA sets action levels in candy and juice and issues guidance on ceramic ware, and California Proposition 65 forces a warning label above its own thresholds. The CDC states there is no known safe blood level in children.
How do you know?
We do not lab test. Every grade here is built from published ingredient lists, materials, certifications, brand disclosures, recalls and third party lab results where those already exist. Where a product has been independently tested we use that result and say so, and where a brand publishes nothing we score the silence rather than guessing.
2% of everything we grade carries a flag for lead. See every hazard we track or browse the full products list.