January 2018 E-Mail From Pura, Re: Their Insulated Stainless Baby Bottles

In January of 2018 one of my followers emailed Pura regarding the concern for lead (Pb) in their stainless baby bottles. Below is the response she received – dated January 17, 2018 (which she forwarded to me.)

Here are my points of concern based on what is said in this email:

1. The letter admits they know that there is lead in the product. This is a concern because their marketing materials and Made Safe’s certification either imply or outright state to consumers that there is no lead in the product. [Different marketing materials related to this product have different emphasis either implying or stating the product is lead-free and I will post those on my blog as examples shortly.]
2. The signature block (see the second image) reiterates their marketing materials/images on their website that say there are only two “ingredients” in their bottles, silicone and stainless steel, when – in fact – there are three, silicone + stainless steel + lead. “Our Kiki line is crafted from only food grade stainless steel and medical grade silicone.” [see the blue part of their signature.]
3. “The bottle is not meant to be used with the base cap removed.” This is stated in this email but there should also be a prominent warning in their packaging and on their website highlighting this point, and I don’t believe there is (I have not seen such a warning.)
4. “We have only had a few customer (sic) report the base cap coming off during use.” This speaks to the fact that they are aware of the issue (of potential exposure to lead to the babies who use their products) and have heard this from multiple customers, yet even a year after being made aware of this issue (which they may have already known about prior to our testing in January 2017) they had not yet made the change to a lead-free seal, noting in the email below that the ostensibly lead-free bottles will be “available later this year” (2018)”
5. They drag MadeSafe’s certification into this (a certification that was designed to clearly designate products that contain NO harmful toxicants, like lead) even in the same email where they admit to having lead in their product, like somehow MadeSafe’s certification negates the fact that the bottles have lead and that their bottom caps have been reported to come off under normal use by the intended users (young children.)
6. They state that there is “no exposure concern” with their bottles, when THEIR PRODUCT is the ONLY similar water bottle intended for use by children that we have encountered where parents have repeatedly reported the bottom cap coming off in normal use. [Babies throw their bottles by the way, and that should be considered normal use… and the integrity of the bottom cap should withstand throwing if it is intended to protect the users from the lead underneath.]
7. Kleen Kanteen and Thermos are other brands who make insulated stainless bottles and cups for children and infants and I have NEVER ONCE heard of their bottom caps coming off in normal use (and so I have not yet tested under their bottom caps to see if they have lead, because they do not seem to have any exposure risk.) Additionally Hydroflask, when called out about lead in their insulated stainless water bottles intended for use by adults [I discussed this with them back in 2014/2015] came up with innovative technology to remove the lead entirely from their products (all of their new 2017 and later products that I have tested have been negative for lead.) So while “many” bottles may use lead, they are not experiencing the same failure mode AND they serve as a good example demonstrating that it is possible to make this type of bottle and not use any lead.
8. Regardless of compliance with federal regulations, there should be no lead in products intended for use by children – and especially not a dot of solid lead in an area that becomes accessible to children with normal use. Their statement about regulatory compliance therefore highlights the need to change both the regulations (to more comprehensively wholly ban the presence of any and all lead in any component of any item intended for children) and the compliance process (the need for functional product testing to more accurately simulate the impact of actual anticipated usage patterns as might be found “in the field” when used by children), as the lack of integrity of the bottom cap on this product must not have been sufficiently tested, given there are so many reports of them coming off in normal use by babies.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

To see the other posts (and video) related to this product click here.

Sincerely,

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama

Below is the full email (a little smaller print size!) including Pura’s full signature. You can click on the image to see it full size, if it is difficult to read here on this page.