The possibility of lead leaching out of porcelain bathtubs could provide customers for you. Their daughter's blood lead levels remained high nonetheless. Finally, Patricia Thomas used a widely available inexpensive lead tester to check around the house, and found lead leaching from the bathtub. The television show recommended reglazing the tub as a fix.
Abrasion can break the surface of the porcelain, letting lead get out.
But some tubs leach lead even though their surfaces look fine, said Jim Gibson, product development manager at Hawk Research Labs in Chicago. These are the ones where proper temperature was not maintained during firing, preventing the coating from forming an impenetrable barrier. It's very common in pink and green tubs. After making a number of tests, he estimates that 20 percent of cast iron tubs are leaching lead. A tub refinishing company in Atlanta, Unique Refinishers Inc., surveyed the tubs it refinished and found that up to 70 percent of cast iron and steel tubs manufactured before 1984 are leaching lead, according to the company's advertising.