healthy kitchen: safest slow cooker?

I had googled "slow cooker cancer" and this pdf was on the first page of results. I don't know this group at all; they could be a front for the VitaClay company for all I know. ha. thoughts?

http://www.prevmedgroup.com/newsletter/whatsupp-29-2011-05.pdf

Leah, thanks a lot for your comments. Good point. Those claims are completely unsubstaniated. I googled "slow cooker lead" and fell into another research sink hole. Apparently there are a lot of questions/opinion on this. (and someone was kind enough to point out that lead could theoretically appear in any ceramic or enamel glaze, like our coffee mugs and plates, the lining of my toaster oven etc) I live in CA and we have stricter standards than many states (I've seen warning stickers on items that exceed the lead standard, such as kitchenware imported from Mexico).   One website mentioned where you can get lead swabs to test your stuff.

FWIW, this was an interesting (unsubstaniated) comment from a random person

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/758162

"you could do a standard potter's leach test which is to place a slice of lemon on your piece. Leave it for several hours, remove it, and see if the glazed surface has discolored. If so, it may leach whatever chemicals the glaze was made of. Of course, even if it did, if the glaze didn't contain lead or cadmium or some other ingredient of concern in the first place, then there isn't a problem."

FWIW, some people have questions about the clay inserts because the material comes from China. i.e. even if the clay is safe, there are questions about manufacturing standards after those news reports these last few years.

I don't want to bog people down with my incomplete research but I'll keep looking over the next few days and post things if I come up with anything relevant.    So much for getting a new slow cooker this weekend. ha!

3monstmama, your idea of using the oven is probably a good idea. I'm just paranoid about leaving it on all the time (I usually use my slow cooker on the weekends, so I'm mostly home, but I sometimes leave the house for an hour or two. Would hate to do that with the oven on. Or leave it on while I sleep. But glad it works for you)

Anyway, to follow up on my slow cooker quest, I did more research and there's nothing definitive either way. (how's that for being helpful?). Supposedly some reporter out west (Utah?) had tested items and found lead. I can't find his articles, though.(found a few dead links) . So I have no idea how much truth there is to this. But, being the good paranoid BC survivor that I am, I did a little home research. I bought a new slow cooker, and did the "lemon test" (see my post above) and nothing leached at all. I got a LeadCheck test from the hardware store. This test showed no lead. So, I'm going to trust that my new slow cooker is safe (or safe enough?) and certainly better than my old one with teflon. (yikes) FWIW, during my research there were questions about the ones with clay inserts (there are claims that they have some anti-stick coating that could leach). I also found some cookers with "cast aluminium" inserts. Again, antistick lining. The one I saw in the store looked like anodoized aluminum but the box didn't identify it beyond "cast aluminum," so I'm not sure what that surface is.

As you might imagine, in my research I found websites that cast doubt on seemingly every kind of kitchenware in the world (i.e. any ceramic or baked enamel kitchenware--pots/mugs/plates/etc --could contain lead if it wasn't produced correctly; even stainless steel pots and pans: some reports say the quality of the material can vary greatly and the "cheaper" kinds can leach nickle, etc.)  Among the truly concerned, it seems like the consensus is that anything has the potential to leach, so if you're really concerned, cook everything in cast iron, so at least you're leaching a substance that your body needs. After awhile it feels pretty extreme and believe me, all this research certainly takes the joy out of buying anything new for the kitchen. But...FYI. I hope this helps and doesn't turn us all into Debbie Downer in the kitchen. cheers!