Is lead only in CRYSTAL stemware/glassware or in most stemware/glassware?

Question

So is lead in my martini glasses? They don't look crystal, they aren't carved or anything. But is lead in regular glassware?

10 points to best answer

Answer 1

I don't know of any test for lead in glassware. But unless these are very nice martini glasses they wouldn't have lead. Leaded glass is physically stronger than "normal" silica glass so it's used on glassware that is very thin or is ornamented with ground-in patterns. This ground-in pattern can have sharp edges and not easily shatter - normal silica glass will easily break at stress concentrations like sharp edges... ornamented silica glass normally has rounded edges on moulded in decorations.

Lead will leach from leaded glass into acidic fluids, not very fast though and relative to the percentage of lead in the glass. Drinking from a crystal glass is safe: decanting wine into a high lead content container and letting it sit for an hour may add lead above the FDA limit of 15ppb. Storing port or sherry in a lead glass decanter can infuse it with a lot of lead, enough to be quite dangerous for young children. They shouldn't be drinking port anyway though... and lead is much less toxic for adults. An adult would have to drink a lot of this port to get any symptoms of lead poisoning, and drinking at that rate would mean the stuff couldn't be in the decanter for long. I don't think anyone who drinks a few bottles of port a day would have hundreds of crystal decanters to "age" it in so the lead can leach into the wine...

I wouldn't give youngsters their orange juice in a crystal glass though...

Answer 2

Regular glass doesn't contain lead, I'm pretty sure.

FWIW, lead crystal is perfectly safe to drink from. The lead doesn't leach into the contents of the glass.

Bottoms up!