#AskTamara: Can I send you a box of my stuff to have it tested for lead (so you can report the results on your blog too!)?

Hello friends!

Many of you have asked if you could support my advocacy work with a monthly gift so I created this post.

Would you like me to test YOUR things for lead?

Subscribing to my blog with a monthly gift of $25 or more is the best way to get your things tested, support my advocacy work and save $ too!

Note: As of October 2018 I am am currently only taking boxes from subscribers for testing.

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In September 2018 my subscribers donated a total of $265.00 to help with XRF testing costs (the cost of testing and reporting the items that I share here on this blog.) My goal is to raise $750.00 a month in subscription income to help cover the cost to rent an XRF instrument for one day each month. My outstanding bill for XRF rental that I am working to pay down at the moment has a remainder due (as of October 2018) of $4,757.43.

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Important points to note:

• By subscribing at $25 a month you are not so much “paying for a service” but rather you are actively participating in independent consumer goods testing advocacy work.
• Your monthly contribution helps to cover the costs of testing consumer goods and reporting them here on this blog.
• By subscribing you also get to actively participate in this work by being the source of things that are tested.
• Subscribers who contribute at least $25 a month get to send in a box of 6 (six) items for testing every fifth month. These are the items that are tested and reported here on this blog, so that readers everywhere (in 200+ countries!) can benefit from this information that would otherwise not be available to them.
• When you send in a box on your fifth month it can include six (6) items – up to 5 simple items and one complex item.**
• If at any time during your subscription you want to send in an additional box and it is not yet your fifth month, subscribers who contribute $25 or more monthly can send in an extra box of up to 6 items (5 simple and one complex) for an additional $125 contribution in support of this work.
• This is independent advocacy work not affiliated with any organization or nonprofit, as a result your contributions are NOT tax-deducible.

Please let me know if you have any questions about this and thank you for supporting my advocacy work in this way! NOTE: If you subscribed before July 25, 2019, you can still send in a box of 10 items every 4th month, although the testing benefit has changed for new subscribers.

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Nuts and bolts of sending in things to be tested:

1. Before you send in a box please e-mail me with a list of what you anticipate sending in so I can let you know if any of the things you have chosen have already been tested (and you can choose to send  something else instead!): TamaraRubin@mac.com
2. I discourage sending all stainless items in for testing (items specifically marked stainless steel that do not have components made of other metals.) You can read more about that here.
3. Testing is usually done within 8 to 12 weeks of your box being received (sometimes it may take longer if I have a backlog.)
4. Results are posted here on my blog (and links to the blog posts with your items are e-mailed to you.)
5. If you want your items returned you will also need to send return shipping (via PayPal or by sending a check in your box.)
6. I generally report on findings of (or the absence of) lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd.) With some products I will list all metals that were detected using XRF technology. In those cases I list all metals only because I find it interesting to know what is in things, not necessarily because those metals are considered toxic.

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CYA Disclaimers:

• I am not a lab nor affiliated with a lab, but use a scientific instrument designed for field testing of consumer goods. The instrument I use is the same one used by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to test consumer goods for toxicants.
• If you need something tested urgently, please send it to a Lab.
• If you need a formal report for something that is being tested, please send it to a Lab.

**Complex items are generally items with more than four components or more than four colors of coating that need to be tested separately. Here are a couple of examples of complex items that I have tested: a toy &  a kitchen appliance.

To see some of the things I have tested before, please check out this post!

As always, thank you for reading and please let me know if you have any questions.

Please continue to scroll down for links to subscribe.

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama

*If you want your items returned, return shipping is extra and should be paid separately.

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August 2018 Update: XRF testing will be done at a location in Washington State, Colorado or California (or other state where the rental instrument is registered.)

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Subscription Levels (more to come!)
Click the heart next to the level you choose to subscribe at that level!

Contribute $25 a month and after the 5th month you can send me a box of 6 items to test (with an XRF) at no additional charge! [Return postage is additional.]

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If you want to make a monthly contribution in support of this work
but don’t want anything in return click one of the buttons below instead!

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