The holiday season is upon us and families are gathering for gift giving and for special meals. It’s a festive time of year. But it could also be a time when people are exposed to harmful levels of lead. The heirloom china used on special occasions could have a lead-based glaze or a raised decoration. The wine or juice stored in lead crystal decanters or pitchers could leach lead into the beverage. The handcrafted pottery baking dish purchased abroad this summer to give as a gift might contain lead.

Lead is a mineral that impairs the body’s health and has a negative effect on growth and general body functioning. In the body, lead can displace other key nutrients and interfere with many of the body’s systems, particularly the tissues of the nervous system, kidney and bone marrow.

Lead is extremely harmful to fetuses, infants and young children because the body absorbs lead most efficiently during times of rapid growth. Even though lead is absorbed 10 times more rapidly in children, people of any age can be exposed to lead and suffer adverse effects. Absorbed into the body by eating and breathing, lead accumulates over time so that even small doses can pose a health hazard over the long run. In adults, lead has been associated with hypertension, cancer and reproductive complications. Available treatments for lead poisoning are very painful and they do not completely remove all the lead from the body. Therefore, prevention is best.

These items could be potential risks:

• "Old" china handed down from a previous generation. These pieces may have been made before lead was recognized as a hazard.
• "Homemade" or "handcrafted" china, either from the U.S. or abroad, unless you are sure the maker used a lead-free glaze or high temperature, commercial firing practices.
• Highly decorated, multi-colored "inside" surfaces (the part that touches the food and drink).
• Decorations on top of the glaze instead of beneath it. Can you feel the decoration when you rub your fingers over it or has the decoration started to wear away?
• Corroded glaze or a dusty or chalky gray residue on the glaze after the piece has been washed. Although the condition is rare, this type of china is quite dangerous.

These items are safer:

• Glass dishes that have no glaze on them. Glass plates, cups and mugs without painted decorations or decals are reliably lead-free. The exception is lead crystal. This is heavy and expensive and almost never used for ordinary plates, cups and mugs. It is used, however, for decanters, pitchers and serving pieces so you must be careful.
• Stoneware dishes, which are fairly heavy and often have a low shine instead of a bright, full gloss. These are usually coated with a material that contains no lead and unless they have a raised decoration, they are usually lead-free.
• Lead-free china, which looks just like other china but is made with lead-free glazes and pigments.

The nutrition specialists with the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service point out that the really dangerous pieces of china are rare. The potential of dishes to leach lead into food and drink vary enormously, however, and it is the combination of the lead-leaching china and the way the piece is used that causes the most problems.

• To help minimize the risk, consider these handling practices:
• Don’t store food or drink in questionable china pitchers or bowls. The longer the food remains in contact with the surface containing lead, the more lead that will be drawn into the food.
• Don’t serve highly acidic food or drink in questionable china or crystal. Acidic foods and drinks will leach lead out much faster than neutral foods like rice or mashed potatoes or neutral drinks such as water or milk. Examples of acidic foods and drinks are cola-type soft drinks, orange and grapefruit juice, applesauce, apple juice, tomatoes and tomato-based products such as ketchup and spaghetti sauce, salad dressings with vinegar, tea and coffee.
• Don’t use a questionable piece of china in your everyday routine, such as a coffee mug or the bowl that usually goes into the refrigerator with leftovers. China that you use only on special occasions is of less concern, especially if you follow the tips above.
• Don’t heat or microwave using questionable china. Heat can speed up the lead-leaching process.

These precautions are not necessary if you know the china is lead-free.