For those new to the Lead Safe Mama website:
Tamara Rubin is a multiple-federal-award-winning independent advocate for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety, and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children (two of her four sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005).
- Tamara owns and runs Lead Safe Mama, LLC ā a unique community collaborative woman-owned small business for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety.
- Since July of 2022, the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC has been responsible for five product recalls (FDA and CPSC).
- All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable.
- Please check out our press page to see some of the amazing coverage of our work so far this year!
IKEA blue glazed china toy teacup designed for use by children
Lead-free (Non-detect for Lead). The penny is included to show size.
Lead-free (Non-detect for Lead). The penny is included to show size.
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The current amount of Lead considered toxic in an item intended for children is anything 90 ppm Lead (or higher) in the glaze, paint, or coating.
The current amount of Lead considered toxic in an item intended for children is anything 90 ppm Lead (or higher) in the glaze, paint, or coating.
In general, I consider anything from IKEA to be a safer choice. Most of the things I have tested from IKEA have been either low-Lead or Lead-free.
Thank you for reading and sharing these results (helping educate other parents in your lives about this important issue). There are always safer choices out there and there is never a reason to have a Leaded item in your home ā especially if it is something your children use on a regular basis.
To see more toys I have tested, click Here.
To see more teacups I have tested, click Here.
Please let me know if you ever have any questions.
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
#asktamara Can you help me out with a question I have about teacups. I have some that came from my aunts grandmother. They are all from England. I would love to have a tea party with ,t girls when they are older. Do I need an XRF instrument or do you suppose a at home swan test would be sufficient? If you would recommend an XRF test, how do I find someone to test it? Thank you!
Hi Katie,
Old teacups from engaged will be leaded. My findings on that have been pretty consistent. A swab test will not likely work on those.
Here is a list of things I have tested that are marked “Made in England”: https://tamararubin.com/category/made-in-england/
Here is a list of teacups I have tested: https://tamararubin.com/category/tea-cup/
Here is a post about why testing teacups with a reactive agent swab test will not likely work: https://tamararubin.com/2017/02/leadcheck-dishware/
Thank you for asking good questions!
Tamara
Wow! Thank you for your reply and information! How sad. Any good recommendations how to buy teacups that would be safe? Iām very new to all of this.
IKEA! š
Everything Ikea!
Thank you so much for all your work testing and finding safe items! Just curious, is there a reason you specify the blue teacup or can we assume all colors in the Ikea set are safe as well? Thank you!
Hi Kristen,
With these I only tested the blue teacup (people send me specific things to test – and that’s what directs what I report on.) I would expect the others from this set are similar.
Here’s how to send something in for testing: https://tamararubin.com/2019/08/tamara-can-i-send-you-one-of-my-dishes-to-test-for-lead/
Tamara