Introduction (for those new to this website):
Tamara Rubin is a federal-award-winning independent advocate for consumer goods safety and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children, her sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005. Since 2009 Tamara has been using XRF testing (a scientific method used by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission) to test consumer goods for toxicants (specifically heavy metals), including Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Antimony, and Arsenic. All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable. Items are tested multiple times, to confirm the test results for each component. Tamara’s work was featured in Consumer Reports Magazine in February of 2023.
Exactly one year ago (on July 1, 2017) I received yet another communication from a mother who had the bottom fall off of her Pura Kiki stainless steel insulated baby bottle (under normal use conditions/ being used by her baby).
She posted an image of her bottle and tagged me on Facebook.
At the time, I believe this was at least the fifth report I had gotten regarding the bottoms coming off of these baby bottles, exposing the children using them to a solid Lead sealing dot.
I asked Ally if I could share her post and image and try to effect some change with the company and she said yes.
I proceeded to forward the image (left) with a short cover note to Amy Ziff (below), the founder of Made Safe because I know Amy personally and Made Safe had chosen this product as their top certified product, so I thought she could more effectively communicate this concern with the company than I would be able to. I never received a response from Amy regarding this.
Since learning about Made Safe giving their top certification award to this product I also messaged Amy on Facebook, I called her and left voice mail messages for her, and I e-mailed her, with no response to any of these communications. This was very disappointing as I know Amy personally and we have quite a few mutual friends. (I’ve even visited with her family and spent the night at her home!)
Amy and I later briefly discussed the issue when we saw each other at a conference in February of 2018. Her statement to me at the time was that the company told her that the lead was inaccessible under “normal use.” Based on reports to me from my followers, this is simply not true. Additionally, the marketing materials for both Made Safe and Pura Kiki either state or imply that their products do not contain any lead, which this product clearly does (or at least did through early 2018 inventory still on the shelves).
I am not writing this now to attack anyone personally, I truly want Amy’s vision for Made Safe to succeed. I think that starts with revoking the certification of this product until the company does both of the following two things:
- assuming they have now created a Lead-free alternative – the company should promise to remove all leaded inventory from shelves of all retailers and wholesalers and…
- the company should make a (high profile) public statement (a voluntary recall perhaps?) about the potential hazards of their products up to this point (with a public statement sharing the exact date after which their products were truly lead-free and warning parents not to use their insulated baby bottles manufactured before this date if/when the bottom cap falls off).
I do understand (see my other posts on the subject) that the company has promised customers to release a lead-free version of the product “later in 2018,” so I am currently asking my friends and followers to order me some new-in-box examples of this product (in July of 2018) for me to test as a follow up. The last bottle we tested – which we just tested on video this past weekend – still had the lead sealing dot. This particular bottle was ordered new-in-box from Amazon in January of this year (2018).
Here is my Amazon affiliate link* to purchase one or more of these to send to me for further testing (if you are interested in supporting my advocacy work in this way). I would like to collect 4 or 5 more to test. We intend to both test them for Lead AND to create a video (in real time) of children using them – to see how long it takes for the bottom cap to fall off under both normal use and slightly aggressive use by a child. To chip in to help cover the additional costs of my advocacy, including testing costs, please click here.
As always, thank you for reading.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
*If you purchase anything after clicking on one of my affiliate links I may receive a small percentage of what you spend at no extra cost to you.
Below is my July 1, 2017 email to Amy Ziff, the founder of Made Safe.
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Thank you for the work that you do. I was looking through your Pura Kiki archives and I’m wondering if they have updated their water bottles. I have a stainless steel baby water bottle very similar to the one picture but it does not have a bottom that can pop off. Are you aware of any updates?