Can old, glass Christmas ornaments be harmful because of lead paint?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Lead prevention advocates warn you may want to avoid vintage glass Christmas ornaments this year due to potential lead paint.

The glass ornaments can be attractive to young children, but the lead can be harmful if ingested, according to the National Capital Poison Center. Lead exposure can negatively impact a child’s cognitive and behavioral development, including their intelligence, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Ornaments are not toys, I can’t say that enough, because ornaments are not regulated,” Tamara Rubin, owner of Lead Safe Mama, said. “What you’re trying to do by making sure people have safer Christmas ornaments is you’re trying to prevent incidental trace exposure that will be part of their cumulative lifetime exposure.”

Rubin is a lead prevention advocate who routinely tests items for lead and works to educate parents about its harmful effects. She advises that vintage glass ornaments should be placed at the top of the Christmas tree or hung from a string out of the reach of children.

“There’s this huge movement toward vintage nostalgia, and vintage ornaments are nearly always incredibly toxic ornaments,” Rubin said. “So you really have to be careful, especially around children, not to use vintage ornaments because they can be painted with lead paint at a very high level of lead.”

You can read more about Rubin’s work preventing lead poisoning here.