I gave one of my young colleagues a set of lead crystal whisky glasses as a house warming present today. A nice gift I thought as he had previously talked about building up an older style cocktail bar.

Anyway he was delighted with them until the workplace busybody got involved. I may as well have given him the gift of cat aids judging by the reaction.

Glasses are marked as lead crystal over 24% Pbo, made in Czech Republic if that makes a difference. Is lead cystal glassware considered dangerous these days? Is he likely to shorten his life expectancy due to lead poisoning? Should I just take them back and swap for a gift voucher?

What did the office busy body say?

Haven’t googled this so I may be wrong but I thought the issue is more with decanters where the drink is sitting there for a long time, rather than just sitting in a glass for a short period.

Wouldnt bother me drinking from a lead crystal glass, it’s not like he’s going to be using them as his only drinking vessel and using them for breakfast lunch and dinner.

Dartington FTW!

Lead does leach into the contents. I wouldn’t worry about drinking from lead crystal glasses occasionally, but I wouldn’t drink anything stored in a lead crystal decanter.

I have cabinets full of crystal glassware, mostly Edinburgh and I’m not dead yet.

I have cabinets full of crystal glassware, mostly Edinburgh and I’m not dead yet.

But can you remember your own name?

I have cabinets full of crystal glassware, mostly Edinburgh and I’m not dead yet.

It’s perfectly safe to keep it in a cabinet.

Lead isn’t very soluble in water and is only slightly more so in alcohol.
Don’t allow small people to use lead crystal as their brains are not yet fully developed but otherwise, no real danger unless used every day and as mentioned above, allowed to stand for extended periods of time so that the lead can leach into the alcohol.

Wash with vinegar before first use.
Leave to stand with water in, flush, use and then enjoy for the rest of your days.
The increased health risks of a teetotal lifestyle are probably a lot higher than those of occasional crystal use.

Yes it’s safe to drink from.
I wouldn’t buy it because I’m lazy & it gets damaged in the dishwasher

Nothing to worry about.
I have lots of crystal glassware, we won it at the battle of the fruitbats.
Now come over here and kiss me before I change my socks.
Watch out for the dragon,it loves pringles.

If they presented a known risk, do you think they’d still be on sale in the UK?

(I was once told not to use them for things like orange juice as the citrus can leech the lead, or something. I’ve no idea whether that’s true or an old wives’ tale.)

Snowflake alert.
The spinach brigade are out in force.
Tell the office busybody to do one. In fact he them to do several.
I’ve never heard such unmitigated pap in years. Tosh. Total tosh.
They could get a job in Brussels inventing pointless regulations, or even worse – they would easily get a job working for HSE.

How much did the taxpayer spend to educate such idiots?

What did the office busy body say?

Something along the lines of you’ll get lead poisoning drinking out of them, better let guests know before giving them a drink.

If they presented a known risk, do you think they’d still be on sale in the UK?

It’s a possibility yes.

Thanks all, tips have been passed on and I’ve put his mind at ease. The busy body has been told where to go and isn’t getting invited round for drinks.

Point out to the busybody that there are a great many lead pipes still in use in properties all across the UK too – does he check this every time he visits a new location?

Point out to the busybody that there are a great many lead pipes still in use in properties all across the UK too – does he check this every time he visits a new location?

could also point out that the water companies add phospate to the water supply to neutralise the lead pipes. just tell the busybody he’ll be adding phospate to the drinks too.

could also point out that the water companies add phospate to the water supply to neutralise the lead pipes.

Ohh, didn’t know that 🙂

Simple then: Add phosphate to the whisky.

^ BOSH ^

could also point out that the water companies add phospate to the water supply to neutralise the lead pipes.

AIUI, all the remaining lead pipes are so furred up inside these days that the water supply doesn’t actually touch the pipework directly anyway.

the remaining lead pipes are so furred up inside these days that the water supply doesn’t actually touch the pipework directly anyway.

That’s what the phosphate does. It’s added to promote the formation of scale in the pipes. It has no effect on the toxicity of lead.

Lead does leach into the contents. I wouldn’t worry about drinking from lead crystal glasses occasionally, but I wouldn’t drink anything stored in a lead crystal decanter.

I would never bother decanting whiskey into a decanter, I’m sure people only did that so they could get away with only serving guests with cheap blended stuff, and in my case it wouldn’t hang around long enough to be a problem anyway.
As for glasses, well it could never be an issue, nothing is stored in them, only drunk from them.

Something along the lines of you’ll get lead poisoning drinking out of them, better let guests know before giving them a drink.

Time to sharpen a lead pencil and poke them with it.

I would never bother decanting whiskey into a decanter

Me neither, but if your colleague is going for a Mad Men style drinks display cabinet vibe you can’t beat a couple of crystal decanters. Just fill them with tea, no milk!

it’s not like he’s going to be using them as his only drinking vessel and using them for breakfast lunch and dinner

Best to check before making that assumption, every Scot or Irishman I’ve ever worked with seems to be an exception to that rule.