Lead: Bad for Children and Other Living Things

When Mexico By Hand displays a little sign or mentions the fact that our pottery is sin plomo (lead free) this is a very big deal. While most folks don't think much about it, the issue does concern some of our customers and is extremely important to us. It can get a bit complicated and difficult to explain, but here are some of the basics. Pottery that is intended for food use--which is a lot of Mexico By Hand's products -- has additional requirements for importing to the U.S. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) randomly inspects pottery imports crossing the border. They’re looking for toxic metals -- most importantly lead. Though it's the law in Mexico that all pottery intended for food use be lead-free, the Mexican government does not have an inspection system in place to enforce the law, and that's why 90% of Mexican pottery produced still contains lead. So when you tell me that you bought something like our bean pot at a mercado in Jalisco, or your mother has a cazuela she’s been using for years-- so she doesn’t really need a new one-- I want you to understand that I am 99.9% sure that pottery is contaminated with lead. If you tell me that you don’t believe it’s a big deal, “no pasa nada”, then I need to tell you that I don’t care so much about you and your health, but I DO care about the Mexican artisans who produce clay pots and dishes and are exposed to the stuff all day.

They dip their hands into the glazes, their kitchens and gardens are contaminated because the pottery is produced in home workshops, and artisan’s children can suffer learning disabilities as a result. It's also really bad for the environment surrounding the artisan communities. So even if you plan on using the pot for decoration and won't use it for cooking, that's why we inform you that our pottery is lead-free. We are trying to encourage artisans to convert to lead free glazes, but unfortunately if  Mexican consumers keep buying the pots with lead and resist paying more for the ones without lead (because they are more expensive) artisans will not feel motivated to make the change. We American consumers can make a difference and in the past decade we've happily seen a gradual movement towards more lead free production. It is illegal to import pottery intended for food use that is made with glazes containing lead, and the U.S. government can be very strict. Yes, folks cross the U.S.- Mexico border every day with leaded pottery-- in private cars and trucks, but if an importer like us is caught with even one piece of contaminated pottery, the whole truck will either be sent back or the product will be destroyed. And a black mark on the importer’s record may prevent him or her from ever importing to the U.S. again. It’s serious.
All that being said however, if someone asks us to show proof or evidence that our pottery is lead-free--like an official seal or some sort of certificate from the government, we can't. Because there isn't one. Really. If a box of ours is randomly inspected, we might be able to show you a piece of tape courtesy of the FDA.

So you have to trust us when we say that we know the artisans and are careful about who we buy from, not just because we care about this issue, but because we have to be careful-- if we want to stay in business. Fortunately for us all, there are some amazingly talented artisans who have been making beautiful lead free pottery for Mexico By Hand for years. Here are a few samples from the town of Capula, not far from Morelia, the capital of Michoacán. Lead free pottery can be purchased on our website at www.mexicobyhand.com.