Corelle® recommends using their pre-2005 dishes as “decorative pieces” due to concerns for high levels of Lead (2024)

For those new to the Lead Safe Mama website:

Tamara Rubin is a multiple-federal-award-winning independent advocate for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety, and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children (two of her sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005).

• Tamara owns and runs Lead Safe Mama, LLC —a community collaborative woman-owned small business for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety.
• Since 2009, Tamara has been using XRF technology (a scientific testing method) using the exact instrumentation employed by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to test consumer goods for toxicants (specifically heavy metals—including Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Antimony, and Arsenic).
• Since July of 2022, the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC has been responsible for 5 product recalls (FDA and CPSC).
• All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable.
• Items that Lead Safe Mama, LLC reports on are tested multiple times to confirm the results published (for each component tested).
• Tamara’s work was featured in Consumer Reports Magazine in February 2023 (March 2023 print edition) and The Guardian in November 2023.

• Pleaseclick through this link to learn more about the testing methodology used for the test resultsdiscussedand reported on this website.

• To learn more about the Lead Safe Mama, LLC community collaborative business model, click here.

• To learn more about the concern for/potential impacts of Leaded glaze/Lead painted decorations on vintage dishware, including potential for health impacts, click here.

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Originally Published: December 26, 2019
Updated: March 19, 2022

While the independent consumer goods testing work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC is often challenged by vintage dishware fans (who are normally quite upset when they first learn that their dishes may not be safe for food-use purposes), as it turns out even Corelle recommends that you stop using vintage (pre-2005)* decorated Corelle pieces for functional food use purposes. Please scroll down and continue reading to see a screenshot of Corelle’s response about this matter to one of the readers of this website.

• Do you want to look up Lead levels for other dishware brands? Start here.
• Here’s a link to a scientific study (from England in 2017) discussing the potential health impacts of Lead and cadmium-based painted decorative elements on glassware.

In an exchange (see below) prompted by Lead Safe Mama, LLC’s findings of high levels of Lead in the painted colorful decorative elements of manyCorelle pieces, a Corelle representative confirmed that the company is aware of the Lead used in their pieces through the mid-2000s (which I am assuming means through 2005). After 2005, the representative states that Corelle (apparently by choice and design) stopped using Lead in their decorative dishware patterns.

*Note: the language is tricky here — the term “vintage,” in general usage is commonly understood to denote items twenty years of age or older, so pre-2005 would not technically be “vintage” yet. This potential confusion is exacerbated by the fact that Corelle had never to my knowledge included any type of markings indicating the exact year of manufacture of any of their products, making it difficult or impossible to determine with any precision when a particular piece was made.

In the communication below, the Corelle representative also alludes to the fact that this is a potential risk to the consumer, as they specifically recommended that my reader stop using these Leaded pieces as functional dishware and instead only use these items as “decorative pieces.” Frankly, this is a huge breakthrough — this is the first time I have seen Corelle (or any manufacturer, really) responsibly acknowledge the presence of Lead in their vintage products as a legitimate potential concern in this way, even tacitly. Please read the full exchange below.

Click here to learn how to dispose of Lead-contaminated dishes.

A reader of this website (Jennifer, in Michigan) sent the following e-mail to Corelle:

“I have a collection of various Corelle dishes. I love them as they are so durable and light. I recently learned that the paint/glaze on many patterns tests positive for Lead. I’m really concerned about this as my child and I both use these and we have both had elevated Lead levels in the past. With the constant use and fact that these are eaten off of, I don’t think any Lead is safe or worth the risk. I can’t afford to buy new Corelle plain white dishes and not sure what to do with the ones I have. Please let me know what my options are. I would also like to know when Corelle plans to stop using Lead in the products.

-Jennifer”

Here’s the response Jennifer got from Corelle…

There is a screenshot of it below. This was from on/about December 23, 2019:

From: Monica

“Thank you for contacting contacting Corelle Brands.

Prior to the 1990s, virtually all glass and ceramic ware made anywhere in the world contained Lead as a primary ingredient in the decorating fluxes and glazes. All our products have been Lead free since the mid-2000’s. Lead content has never been regulated until recently. We recommend using the items you have as decorative pieces. We hope this information is helpful.

Sincerely,

Monica
Corelle Brands”

You can see a screenshot of this e-mail below.
Please continue reading below the image!

I have been writing about this for more than 10 years.

I have been reporting that Corelle pieces are high in Lead (and Cadmium) for about a decade now — since shortly after I started testing consumer goods for toxicants using XRF technology in 2009.

There are many examples of pieces here on the Lead Safe Mama website that are high-Lead or high-Cadmium Corelle dishware. Unfortunately, the above e-mail was not an officialpress release from Corelle, but a simple exchange between one of their representatives and one of my readers. However, it is definitely a statement from (and on behalf of) the company and the brand.

It is lamentable —yet understandable/to be expected in the context of competitive capitalism — that the Corelle representative felt compelled to try to qualify/limit the corporation’s responsibility for using neurotoxic Lead in the paint/glaze/decorative coating of their dishware through 2005 by asserting that, “Prior to the 1990s, virtually all glass and ceramic ware made anywhere in the world contained Lead.” Thisis a hyperbolic claim — while I would agree that it is arguably true ofa great deal ofvintage dishware, it by no means equates to “virtually all” …!

Does Corelle have safe options now?

While I am disappointed in the fact that Corelle’srepresentative tried to diminish the company’s responsibility for their manufacturing of toxic products in the past, I am truly thankful that they now are a market leader in creating Lead-free dishware. I will continue to recommend the plain white versions of their products as one of the most consistently Lead-free dishware options on the market today. The image below is the Corelle dish pattern that I use in my home for my family. The Bella Faenza pattern is one of their patterns where the detail is embossed into the glass (as a texture, not a design that is painted on). All of these “embossed” Corelle dishes are Lead-free (as long as there are no colored elements.) The plain white ones without decorative elements are also Lead-free (here’s an example on Amazon).

Please continue reading below the image.

I would love to see a bold further step taken by the company in the form of inviting consumers to exchange their vintage products for new Lead-free products — either with a simple dish-per-dish swap or perhaps offering those who ownvintage products a significant discount on equivalent new Lead and Cadmium-free (unadorned) replacement products.

Please note that even though their new products do tend to be completely Lead-free, these products have been testing positive for Cadmium (in certain colors), at levels that I would also consider potentially concerning given Cadmium is a known carcinogen. It is for this reason that I only ever recommend their plain white (unadorned) products — including their lovely embossed plain white designs — which is what I use in my home.

Some additional reading for folks who are new here:

• To see more Corelle pieces that I have tested and found to have Lead and Cadmium, click here.
• To see more vintage dishware I have tested, click here.
• To see the only other response my readers have previously shared with me from Corning (the original parent company of Corelle), click here.
• To see the plain white Corelle dishes I use every day in my home, click here.* Note: these can often be bought cheaper at Target instead of Amazon.
• To see other ideas for what to do with your Lead-contaminated Corelle pieces now, see here.

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
Owner – Lead Safe Mama, LLC

*Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking on one of my links Lead SafeMama, LLC may receive a small percentage of what you spend – at no extra cost to you.