Lead in Ceramic Jugs

[dstaines]

I recently purchased on of those iconic one gallon, two-tone ceramic jugs from another antique bottle collector, nearly identical to the one pictured below. The item was described as "vintage, but not antique. I hadn't used it yet, but planned to fill it up with something a little special and age it on some used oak dominoes for a few years.

Then I read a post on another forum for whiskey collectors (another hobby that should be legalized but isn't). Long story short, the OP had one of those ceramic whisky decanters that were so common in the 1970's and early 80's. He sent a sample of the bourbon to a lab and it came back positive for lead, at nearly 1000 times the acceptable concentration set by the FDA. Admittedly that limit is set for drinking water, but the poster determined with some fuzzy math that even drinking one such bottle over the course of a month or so would put him at risk for lead-related illness. You can read the whole post here "http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/a ... 16193.html".

I immediately purchased a surface lead swab kit from Home Depot ($10, two tests). The jug is glazed brown around the mouth and inside. Although the glaze is very nonporous and the tests were intended for paint and drywall, the brown glaze came back positive for lead. The moral of this story for me is that you should Never use ceramic containers for storing or aging spirits, unless is it is marked "Lead Free". The FDA started enforcing reduced leachable lead in food grade ceramics only in the 1980's, so a container may still be dangerous even if it doesn't look that old. Believe me I get it, these jugs look so cool and go well with the old fashioned feel that speaks to many hobbyists here. But these old-timey jugs could give you an old-timey disease.

Jugs like these could contain leachable lead in the interior glaze

[Truckinbutch]

That's damned interesting/scary . I've got jugs ranging from 1/2 to 5 gallon dating back to my Great Grandfather's era . Think i'll do a little testing before I put them in service .

[Dan P.]

Never use those old stoneware jugs to store anything edible/drinkable. You cannot tell what has been kept in them, how porous they are, or even if they are really clean on the inside. Many an old boy has used them to piss in, store old motor oil, battery acid, etc. etc.

[W Pappy]

Well shit I'm damned glad you posted this, I was looking for some of them jugs looks like I will have to pick up a test kit.

[NZChris]

That was close. I've got a couple that I was intending to use. One I've had since new, it's been empty for decades.

[bearriver]

Ouch, I've used them to macerate herbal tinctures in very high proof alcohol...

[just sayin]

Thanks much, Dstaines. You may have saved may of us proplems, I have collected 3 gallon jugs and have had my eye on a couple of 5 gallon jugs. Think I am going to pass. Safety first!

[Lazarus Long]

A lot of those jugs floating around were made in Mexico and you will have no idea if it has lead or not without testing. Best to stay clear of them when storing your product and use them for decoration on the fireplace hearth.

[thecroweater]

hmm not sure whats going on with the Demijons in the USA here earthenware has been used for holding and storage of alcohol right up to the present day. was the lead used in colouring there, far as i know it is salt glazing here , was and still is.
Sharps sold drinks in one gal glazed demijons here and in NZ until sometime in the 60s and there are 2 earthenware manufacturers near me still supplying earthenware to companies for bottling and storage of alcohol, Here's one. Maybe you shouldn't use any container you are not certain of its prior use. Carte blanche statements about dangerous earthenware are not per say true, a lot of earthenware jugs were used to store chemicals to but at least here such was embossed on them. Thing is this same argument stands true for glass also stainless, oak or anything else

[Dan P.]

Carte blanche statements about dangerous earthenware are not per say true, a lot of earthenware jugs were used to store chemicals to but at least here such was embossed on them. Thing is this same argument stands true for glass also stainless, oak or anything else

I know for a fact that a lot of earthenware/stoneware jugs were used to store all manner of nasty shit, marked or otherwise. Where I live they are usually old beer or cider jugs, and old boys just had them around the workshop, farm or garage and would use them for anything. The old boy dies, the shit that was inside it dries up or is poured out, they end up in an antique shop... Any chemical, acid or oil that might have been used in automotives, agriculture or light industry in the last 100 years might havebeen in that thing.
The difference with demijohns is that they are made of glass, so you can see whether they are clean or not, and are non-porous, so they won't absorb anything. The same is not necessarily true of earthenware jugs, and using such jugs bought from a bric-a-brac place for comestibles is not a good idea.
Support your local craftspeople and get new ones made at your local pottery, if that is the look you want to go for.

[MyUncleMo]

My local potter makes these Cider Jugs. This was one of the earlier ones - fits just over 1/2 gallon.
He has been making larger ones also. Comes with natural cork stopper.
Stoneware - no lead in glaze...
I see the old school traditional moonshine jugs in the local antique shops and pass because of the unknown.

[dstaines]

far as i know it is salt glazing here , was and still is.

Croweater you're right, if the jugs are actually salt-glazed then there should not be any lead. In the states, new ceraic jugs are clearly marked with either "Lead Free" or "For Decorative Use Only" with a big Prop 65 warning sticker.

The old jug I bought though clearly is not salt glazed, and it looks like a lot of other people have made the same assumption that I did when I bought it. IE these jugs have been used for whiskey forever and that means it's totally ok. I'm definitely on the lookout for a 1/2-gallon or 1-gallon salt glazed jug now, and the one I bought has been set aside as purely decorative.

What really blew my mind though, and the original reason I posted this, is that lead-glazed ceramic decanters were WIDELY used in the US for Jim Beam and Wild Turkey Bottled-in-bond whiskey. I see those kitchy containers everywhere at thrift stores, shaped like cars or banjos or tigers or whatever. George Jones wrote a great sad drinking song about one shaped like Elvis, called "The King Is Gone (And So Are You)". They disappeared very quietly from the shelves in the early 1980s because the FDA determined that the interior lead laze made them extremely inappropriate for beverage sales and storage. That was when the FDA beefed up all of their rules for household lead, in ceramics and paint and pewter, lots of things. But apparently nobody ever advertised the fact that the bottles were dangerous.

The ubiquitousness and availability of those containers, as well as jugs like mine, makes them prime for us hobbyists to snap em up cheap and store our liquor. Just like any safety issue, mo knowledge mo betta