Is your color-glazed ceramic dinnerware safe?

In daily life, people use a variety of ceramic tableware, of many colorful designs, color glazed is one of them. However, have you paid attention to your color glazed tableware safety? 

What is color glaze?

Color glaze is a kind of decorative glaze on porcelain, whose colors are rich and diverse, including white, black, red, green, yellow, blue and other various colors. The manufacturing method of color glaze is to add coloring agent into the base glaze, after mixing, grinding, preparation, and finally applied to the porcelain and fired.

The rendering effect of color glaze is closely related to the firing temperature, atmosphere and other factors. During the firing process, high temperatures cause the colorants to oxidize or reduce, resulting in different colors. For example, copper oxide produces green, iron oxide produces red or brown, and cobalt produces blue.

In addition to a single color, it can also be prepared compound color glaze, that is, the glaze surface presents two or more colors. Methods of preparing compound color glaze include adding a variety of colorants to the base glaze, using different firing temperatures and atmospheres, and so on.

Is the color-glazed ceramic tableware you're using safe?

The safety of color glazes depends on their manufacturing process and raw materials.

Generally speaking, most color glazed ceramicware for daily are safe under normal use. This is because modern ceramics are fired at high temperatures during the manufacturing process, during which most of the harmful substances are removed.

However, some cheap or low quality ceramic products may contain harmful substances such as heavy metals like lead and cadmium. These harmful substances may leach into food or liquids, thus posing a potential threat to human health.

Therefore, to ensure the safety of the ceramic dinnerware used, it is advisable to choose reliable brands and products of good quality control. At the same time, try to avoid using color glazed products with overly bright colors, as these may be colored using heavy metal oxides such as lead, cadmium and chromium. Care should also be taken when using ceramic tableware. Try to avoid using them to serve acidic foods or to hold hot liquids for long time, as this may increase the risk of leaching of harmful substances.