BfR
|
Annual Report 2014
50
Release of heavy metals from ceramics
and glassware
Ceramics and glassware for cooking and baking as well
as for storing and serving food can be found in every
household. The range of products includes earthenware,
porcelain, stoneware, glass and crystal glass. Surface
finishes such as engobes, glazes and patterns add to
the design of the products.
However, ceramic tableware, coloured glassware and
lead crystal glass can contain heavy metals such as lead
and cadmium which may release into foods. This is de-
pendent, amongst other factors, on whether the ceram-
ics were fired at high or low temperatures and the type of
food that was stored in the container and for what period
of time.
Product safety is an important aim of consumer protection and involves questions such as: Can toys or
cosmetic product pose a health risk? In answering these questions, the Chemicals and Product Safety
Department examines not only the substances used, but also the release of these substances. This is
because the issue of whether a health risk exists for a particular product depends first and foremost
on how consumers come into contact with the substances it contains. The committees for Consumer
Products and for Cosmetics as well as the National Reference Laboratory for substances that come
into contact with food are attached to the department.
Product Safety
In Europe and Germany, limit values have been estab-
lished for the release of heavy metals from ceramic arti-
cles that come into contact with food. For ceramic articles
which can be filled, such as cups and bowls, the cur-
rently applicable limits are 4 milligrammes per litre (mg/L)
for lead and 0.3 mg/L for cadmium. From ceramic articles
that cannot be filled such as plates, a maximum of 0.8 mg
of lead per square decimetre (dm
2
) and 0.07 mg of cad-
mium per dm
2
can release. In Germany, official controll
laboratories monitor compliance with these limits.
As a result of a reassessment carried out by the Europe-
an Food Safety Authority (EFSA), new limits for lead and
cadmium for food contact with ceramic articles can now
be expected in European legislation. These are signifi-
cantly lower than the current limits and correspond with
the recommendations made by the BfR who had recom-
mended a reduction in the legally permitted limits for the
release of lead and cadmium from ceramic articles as
early as 2005. Furthermore, in addition to the possible
integration of the glassware product group into the
new ceramic legislation, an expansion to include
elements such as aluminium, arsenic, barium,
cobalt and chromium is also part of the discus-
sion.
For the amendment of the existing legislation,
the European Commission has assigned several
laboratories with the development of the scientific
and technical principles, namely the National Reference
Laboratory (NRL) for Food Contact Materials located
at the BfR, the European Union Reference Laboratory
(EURL) and the national reference laboratories of Great
Ceramic tableware can contain heavy metals such as lead
and cadmium that could be released to food.
