Thrifting can be downright thrilling: Scouring shelves and racks for just the right item can be the best kind of scavenger hunt.
But before adding a previously-loved item to your home collection, it’s important to take a few simple precautions to keep the bed bugs, moths, and, ahem, lead away.
“Before 1978, lead was a common component of residential paint in the United States, and it was also used for painting furniture and other houseware items," says Kelly Johnson-Arbor, MD, an emergency medicine physician and medical toxicologist, and co-medical director of the National Capital Poison Center. "Today, some vintage items can still contain lead paint, and the old paint is likely to chip or form lead dust that can cause unwanted health effects.”
Experts In This Article
Not exactly the kind of score you were looking for from the thrift store.
What to test if you buy something used
Many housewares at vintage stores and thrift shops, like cups, plates, vases, and more, can have lead in them and therefore be unsafe to use for eating or drinking. According to Dr. Johnson-Arbor, some wares that test positive for lead can be safely displayed on a shelf. However, make sure they're kept away from curious children who may want to touch them. “If there are children living in or visiting your house, it’s not safe to have lead-containing housewares on display,” says Dr. Johnson-Arbor.
It's not just vintage you need to watch out for. Lead is sometimes found in imported products, like spices, cookware, dishes, cosmetics, traditional medicines, and pottery, according to Dr. Johnson-Arbor. While a decorative vase is one matter, cosmetics or spices that you put on your skin—or eat!—is another. "Lead glazes can also leach out of cookware or dishes, especially in the presence of heat or acidic environments. When humans breathe or consume lead dust or chips, lead toxicity can occur,” says Dr. Johnson-Arbor.
This doesn't mean you should never buy any of these items. Fortunately, there are tests that you can get to check your new finds for lead.
What should you look for in a home lead test kit?
There's no dearth of lead test kits available to buy on websites like Amazon. Yet Dr. Johnson-Arbor says that many kits are not entirely reliable and can offer false positives or false negatives. To make sure you get the real deal, choose a lead test kit approved and certified for use by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Examples include the 3M Lead Check kit, D-Lead, and the state of Massachusetts test kits.
