2012 Minnie Mouse Mug: 108,300 ppm Lead + 28,600 ppm Arsenic (90 ppm is considered unsafe 4 kids.)

This Minnie Mouse mug was purchased new by me in Orlando at a gift shop in February of 2012. [I went there for the National Home Builders show when we were first working on filming my documentary on childhood lead poisoning.]

The mug tested positive with an XRF instrument with the following readings:

• Lead (Pb): 108,300 ppm &
• Arsenic (As): 28,600 ppm

The amount of Lead that is considered illegal in the paint or coating of a newly (post 2010) manufactured item intended for use by children is anything positive for Lead at 90 ppm or higher. Mugs and dishware are not considered items intended for children (even if they are decorated with cartoon characters) unless the are expressly labeled and sold as an item intended for use by children (like a set of items expressly sold as baby dishes or similar).

Coffee mugs are almost always considered “items intended for use by adults”. Even a diminutive sized mug is not likely to be Lead-safe or Lead-free. Many tiny mugs that are often displayed in stores as if they were intended to be used by children are actually espresso mugs intended for use by adults, so even though they are cute and small they can still (legally) have high levels of Lead or Cadmium in the paint or coating. Click HERE for an example of a tiny mug that legally had high levels of Arsenic and Lead.

The particular mug pictured here on this post is an off-brand mug (not a Disney Parks branded product.) To see some more Disney-themed products I have tested, Click HERE. Based on testing I have done recently, while many vintage Disney items are high-Lead, new products sold in the Disney Parks today seem to generally be either Lead-Safe or Lead-Free.

If you have an interest in learning more about these posts (likely because you are new to my site!) please check out this post and this post for a start!  Thanks for visiting!

To see more mugs I have tested, click here.

For lead-free mug choices click here!

Thank you for reading and for sharing my posts.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama