Mason Jars, Kerr Brand: 23 ppm Lead (plus Cadmium) — but WAIT! Don’t panic! Read more here.

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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 — a unique community collaborative woman-owned small business for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety.
• Since July 2022, the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC has been responsible for six 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 news coverage of our work, linked here.

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When tested with an XRF instrument, this Kerr Mason jar (pictured here, year unknown) was positive for Lead at 23 parts per million.

WAIT!  DON’T PANIC!

• Almost all of the newer Ball jars I have tested have tested NEGATIVE for Lead and Cadmium.
• These levels (of Lead and Cadmium) found in this jar after testing are typical for Kerr and are considered to be trace/ very low/ negligible and are not likely to leach at all.
• These levels are considered SAFE by ALL STANDARDS.
• Newer clear (undecorated) glass is still likely the best thing to store your food in (even with trace/ low-level toxicants in some options).
• Ball is the most consistently Lead-free brand (for canning jars) I have found (with just a few exceptions).
• Conversely, almost all Kerr jars I have tested have been positive for low-levels of Lead (in the 20 to 40 ppm range), with very few exceptions.
• All Weck jars I have tested have been positive for Lead in the 200 ppm range (still very low, but consistently higher).

To see more glass food storage options, click here.

Similar jars found on Amazon.
This is an affiliate link! If you buy something after clicking it, Lead Safe Mama, LLC may receive a percentage from Amazon (at no extra cost to you!). Thank you!

If you appreciate what Lead Safe Mama, LLC does and would like to support this advocacy work (including the independent XRF testing we conduct on consumer goods) please consider clicking here to make even a small contribution via my GoFundMe — every $5 and $10 (or whatever you can afford) makes a big difference during what is currently a very difficult transition time for me. Thank you!

Thank you for reading and sharing these articles.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama

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Affiliate link disclosure: If you choose to purchase any items after clicking the Amazon links above, Amazon pays Lead Safe Mama a small kick back as a thank you for sending business their way. It doesn’t cost you anything extra and helps support this website, allowing us to keep sharing information about childhood Lead poisoning prevention (as well as making it possible to keep sharing about safe products for your home and family). Sharing this information in turn helps families everywhere protect their children from potential environmental toxicity in their homes. I only link to products that are the same as (or very similar to) ones I either have direct personal experience with in my home or that I have personally tested with an XRF Instrument and found to be Lead-safe or Lead-free. (March 2017)