> wrote:
>When I was in Shanghai a couple years back I purchased a gung fu tea
>set from Ten Fu tea, which I believe is a nationwide chain. I've heard
>that some yixing sets contain lead. Knowing this, and in light of
>recent product quality issues, should I be worried about this?

A lot of them have white lead glazes, but the question is how stable
the glaze is. If it doesn't leach lead into your tea, it's not a problem.
If it leaches lead into your tea, it's bad news.

Ace Hardware will sell you a lead test kit intended for detecting paint
residue, made by Abotex. It's reasonably sensitive. Note that some of
the kits out there are pretty lousy. Look for swabs that are able to
detect 1 ug on solid surfaces or 2 ppm in liquid, minimum.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."