🍽️ Lead and cadmium released from glass, glass-ceramic and enamel (contact with food) — PN-EN 1388-2

Food chemistry PN-EN 1388-2

Overview

WHAT THIS TEST IS — SCOPE FROM THE PKN CARD, IN FULL: "Podano metodę badania dotyczącą oznaczania ołowiu i kadmu uwalnianego z wyrobów, których powierzchnie krzemianowe ze szkła, tworzywa ceramiczno-szklanego lub emalii przezroczystej, przeznaczone są do kontaktu z produktami spożywczymi. Wymagania niniejszej normy stosuje się również w odniesieniu do pojemników z emalią przezroczystą i do przemysłowych części wyposażenia przeznaczonego do kontaktu z produktami spożywczymi. Określono także metodę badania, dotyczącą oznaczania ołowiu i kadmu uwalnianego z obrzeża naczynia przeznaczonego do picia, które mogą być badane również tą metodą" [A test method is given for the determination of lead and cadmium released from articles whose silicate surfaces of glass, glass-ceramic material or transparent enamel are intended to come into contact with foodstuffs. The requirements of this standard also apply to containers with transparent enamel and to industrial parts of equipment intended to come into contact with foodstuffs. A test method is also specified for the determination of lead and cadmium released from the rim of a vessel intended for drinking, which may also be tested by this method]. Clause 1 of the EN text calls this method a reference method and adds that the rim of ceramic articles can also be tested according to it.

A PAIR OF STANDARDS. Ceramic articles (porcelain, earthenware, stoneware — definition 3.6) are tested according to part 1, PN-EN 1388-1 (a separate entry in this database); part 2 covers glass, glass-ceramic and enamel on metal, and the rim of drinking vessels. In accreditation scopes, 17 of the 21 entries with this standard also have PN-EN 1388-1.

WHEN THE TEST IS NOT NECESSARY (introduction). No raw materials containing lead and cadmium are used for homogeneous, undecorated and unglazed soda-lime-silicate and borosilicate glass or for glass-ceramic (the exception is crystal glass according to Directive 69/493/EEC). Release can only come from impurities and is usually below the detection limits of FAAS — for uncoloured, undecorated and unglazed articles of mass-produced soda-lime-silicate or borosilicate glass, it is "not essential to test according to this European Standard". The notes to definitions 3.9 and 3.10 say the same: lead and cadmium are present in these glasses only as trace impurities, and their release is below the detection limits of the method. The introduction also recalls Directive 84/500/EEC (Annex I — basic rules for testing the migration of lead and cadmium, Annex II — atomic absorption spectrometry as the method of analysis).

PRINCIPLE (clause 4). The silicate surfaces are brought into contact with a 40 ml/l acetic acid solution for 24 h at 22 °C in order to extract lead and cadmium from the surface of the articles or test specimens; the released lead and cadmium are determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS).

TEST SOLUTION (5.2): (40 ± 1) ml of glacial acetic acid (ρ = 1.05 g/ml, stored in the dark) is added with a measuring cylinder to 500 ml of water and made up to 1 l; it is prepared fresh, in a quantity sufficient for the whole series of tests and analyses. Stock solutions of lead and cadmium — 1000 mg/l each, prepared in the test solution (or commercial ones of equivalent accuracy). Water — distilled or of grade 3 according to ISO 3696.

DEFINITIONS ON WHICH THE WAY OF TESTING DEPENDS (clause 3): drinking rim — a band of the outer surface of a drinking vessel 20 mm wide, measured downwards from the top edge; flatware — articles that cannot be filled or with an internal depth of not more than 25 mm (also test specimens of appliances, containers and water heaters with enamel); hollowware — deeper than 25 mm, except articles with a capacity of more than 3 l, which are storage vessels; storage vessel (container) — capacity of at least 3 l; enamel — a vitreous inorganic coating fused to metal at a temperature above 500 °C; cookware — heated during food preparation, among others by steaming, boiling, stewing, baking or in a microwave oven.

EDITIONS (state of the PKN card on 25.09.2026). PN-EN 1388-2:2000 — Polish version, publication 07-12-2000, 17 pages, KT 133 Packaging, introduces EN 1388-2:1995 [IDT], without the "Wycofana" [Withdrawn] header. EN 1388-2:1995 was prepared by working group 3 of committee CEN/TC 194 "Utensils in contact with food"; CEN approved it on 04-10-1995. At the publisher (the CEN catalogue run by iTeh, read on 25.09.2026): published 12-10-1995; stage 90.92 — decision after the review: REVISION (enquiry from 16-03-2023, closing 23-09-2026). There is no new edition yet.

HOW ACCREDITATION SCOPES CITE THE STANDARD. Measurement of 25.09.2026 on the database of PL accreditation scopes (1310 laboratories with entries): 21 entries at 16 laboratories; notations "PN-EN 1388-2:2000" (18), "PN-EN 1388-2" without a year (1) and two distorted ones: "PN-EN 1388 -2:2000" with a space and "PN-EN 1388–2:2000" with an en dash. Subject of the test: silicate surfaces of articles other than ceramic ones and rims — often together with ceramic articles, once "Wyroby szklane przeznaczone do kontaktu z żywnością" [Glass articles intended for contact with food]; methodology: migration of lead and cadmium (also "do płynu modelowego" [into the food simulant]); technique: FAAS (19 of 21), once ICP-MS. Results declared in mg/l, mg/dm², mg per article and mg per rim.

THE KEY OF THE "LABORATORIES" TAB: "PN-EN 1388-2" — 14 laboratories and 19 entries, without foreign entries. The tab will not show 2 laboratories (AB 054, AB 343) which wrote the standard with a space or with an en dash. The shorter key "PN-EN 1388" would catch all 16, but it would add entries with part 1 and with another standard (PN-EN 13888-2), so we do not use it.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We had a fragment of the text of EN 1388-2:1995 made available by the publisher (scan): the cover, the table of contents, the foreword, the introduction and clauses 1–5.3.2. We do not have the apparatus (clause 6), the preparation of articles and enamelled specimens (clauses 7–8), the course of the test — including the testing of the rim (clause 9), the expression of results (clause 10) or Annex A. So we do not give the ways of filling and immersion, the temperature tolerances or the formulae. Nor does the standard contain limit values — those are set by regulations.

Method principle

The silicate surface of the article (glass, glass-ceramic, enamel) or the rim of a drinking vessel is brought into contact for 24 h at 22 °C with a 40 ml/l acetic acid solution; lead and cadmium are determined in the resulting extract by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS).

Applications

• Articles of glass, glass-ceramic and enamel intended for contact with food
• Enamelled containers and enamelled parts of food industry equipment
• Rim of drinking vessels (a 20 mm band from the edge) — also of ceramic articles
• NOT necessary for uncoloured, undecorated soda-lime and borosilicate glass from mass production (introduction of the standard)

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-EN 1388-2:2000 (wersja polska; wprowadza EN 1388-2:1995 [IDT])

Title (PL)

Materiały i wyroby przeznaczone do kontaktu z produktami spożywczymi — Powierzchnie krzemianowe — Oznaczanie ołowiu i kadmu uwalnianego z powierzchni krzemianowych wyrobów innych niż wyroby ceramiczne

Title (EN)

Materials and articles in contact with foodstuffs — Silicate surfaces — Part 2: Determination of the release of lead and cadmium from silicate surfaces other than ceramic ware

Step-by-step procedure

1. Whether the test is needed

   Uncoloured, undecorated, unglazed soda-lime or borosilicate glass from mass production — testing according to the standard is not necessary (introduction). Ceramics — part 1 (PN-EN 1388-1).

2. Test solution

   Fresh 40 ml/l acetic acid in a quantity for the whole series.

3. Specimens

   The type of article (flatware, hollowware, storage vessel, drinking rim, enamelled specimens) decides the way of preparation — clauses 7–8, which WE DO NOT GIVE.

4. Contact

   The surface in contact with the test solution.

   ⏱ Time: 24 h • 🌡 Temperature: 22 °C

5. Determination

   Lead and cadmium in the extract by FAAS; the standard defines the calibration curve method and the bracketing method (3.23, 3.25). WE DO NOT GIVE the formulae (clause 10).

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Lead and cadmium compounds (standard solutions) — toxic; gloves, separate waste
• Glacial acetic acid — corrosive, flammable; dilute by adding the acid to water
• Acetylene-air flame in FAAS — extraction above the burner, check the gas lines for leaks

Frequently asked questions