The ceramics in your kitchen were not randomly painted. Most decorations on dishes made before the 1990s used lead pigment because lead made the color brighter, the glaze smoother, and the kiln cheaper. The pattern outlives the rule that banned it.
Lead carbonate and lead chromate were the cheap, vivid pigments that made hand-painted china possible at scale. Pyrex, Anchor Hocking, Corelle, Corning, Fire-King. The ban on lead in housewares paint did not retroactively scrape it off your grandmother's bowl.
Citrus, tomato, coffee, hot dishes. They leach more lead than cold food. If a dish glows under FluoroSpec UV, do not serve hot or acidic food on it.
Drip for dishes. Spray for walls, dust, soil. One bead per spot.
The isopropanol flashes off. The reagent stays.
Green on the decoration means lead-bearing pigment. White ceramic stays dark.
The dose is what matters, not the presence. A decorative plate on a shelf is fine. The same plate under hot tomato sauce, three times a week, is not.
Move to display. Replace coffee mugs and soup bowls first.
Plain white restaurant ware. Clear glass. Unfinished stoneware.
Some new decorated dishes still use lead pigment outside the US.
