Ceramics manufacturers feel the heat over use of lead-based glazes.

With more and more Angelenos becoming aware of the potentially lethal effects of lead, local ceramics manufacturers have been taking an increasing amount of heat.

Proposition 65, known as the "labeling law," requires that retail stores, beginning June 1, post lead warning signs near all ceramic tableware coated with lead glazes. Insurance companies and environmental officials have also been inspecting ceramics manufacturing sites to measure the amount of lead in the blood of employees who are exposed to lead. Under regulations from the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration, workplaces with high levels of lead in the air must periodically monitor the blood lead levels of their employees.

"There's so many regulations, it's hard to keep up with," said David Hoffman, manager of distributor sales for City of Industry-based Laguna Clay Co., which provides glazes and raw materials to ceramic companies. "State regulations have provided a tremendous burden on the ceramic industry; therefore, a lot of companies have gone out of business or moved out of state."

Many companies have simply had to switch to unleaded glazes, he said. A year ago, Laguna Clay was using glazes that consisted of 80 percent lead, but now it using glazes with only about 20 percent lead content.

Treasure Craft in Compton, one of the largest ceramic manufacturers in the state, has been 100 percent lead-free since the beginning of 1993, said Richard Rubin, the company's vice president of manufacturing. "We started the process of getting the lead out 10 years ago."

He said his company decided to be lead-free out of "occupational considerations." Company officials didn't want to mess with testing the blood levels or respiratory problems of its employees, he said.

Treasure Craft, a subsidiary of the Pfaltzgraff Co., a major ceramic manufacturer in Pennsylvania, is known for its hand painting of giftware and cookie jars to promote Disney movies.

Although the trend now is toward lead-free glazes, ceramic manufacturers said those are harder to use than leaded glazes and many colors aren't available with lead-free glazes.

To help companies become educated about the state's lead standards, the Los Angeles County Toxics Epidemiology Program created the Occupational Lead Education and Awareness Project, or OccLEAD. The project is funded through a two-year grant to dispense that education and to enforce blood testing at lead-using companies that have never monitored their air quality, said Dan Leiner, an industrial hygienist with the county.

OccLEAD has reached out to 120 companies countywide since January 1992, said Leiner, which includes the 40 to 50 ceramic companies.

He said most of these local ceramic companies have had problems with elevated lead levels at their facilities.

Leiner said county officials with OccLEAD have had to report about 20 to 25 companies to the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration for possible safety violations. The few cases in which employees had to be removed from their jobs because the amount of lead in their blood was too high, he said, all involved workers in the ceramics industry.

The ceramics industry, however, has known for years that lead was coming under increasing attack.

Proposition 65, which was passed in 1986, sets standards for 29 chemicals that are known carcinogens or reproductive toxins, and lead is one of them. The California Environmental Protection Agency sets the standards by determining risk levels for each chemical. And then, the California Attorney General's office enforces them.

If the lead content in a product exceeds the maximum allowable amount, it is taken off the market. But even if a product contains a minute amount of lead, it must carry a prominent warning label.

Lead, which has long been recognized as a toxic substance, can cause a wide variety of health problems, such as damage to the liver, kidney, brain and the nervous, reproductive, cardiovascular and immune systems.

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn't believe that most ceramic ware causes a significant health hazard, it is concerned that some products can contribute lead to the customer's diet.

In 1971, the FDA set informal guidelines for levels of lead leaching from ceramic ware products. The levels were tightened in 1979 and are now being further reduced.

The FDA is mainly concerned about ceramic ware that is used frequently for eating. They have found that acidic foods, such as orange, tomato and other juices, wines and vinegar-containing foods, cause more lead to be leached into food than nonacidic foods. Likewise, more lead leaches into hot liquids, such as coffee, tea or tomato soup, than into cold beverages and foods. Liquid foods that are stored longer may also increase lead leaching.