Giant Blue Glass Marble: 60 ppm Cadmium, 366 ppm Arsenic

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This is a newer (c. 2015) large translucent blue glass marble with an iridescent rainbow finish.

Given the nature of the way most colored glass is commonly produced, many marbles (and especially those with iridescent finishes) do have at least some level of detectable toxicants when tested with an XRF instrument.

Some actually have quite high amounts of Lead (Pb) — at levels considered dangerous for children by current/ modern regulatory standards.

This particular marble is negative for Lead (Pb), but positive for Cadmium (Cd) and Arsenic (As). Here’s the full XRF reading set for the marble pictured.

• Lead (Pb): Non-detect (ND)
• Cadmium (Cd): 60 +/- 29 ppm
• Mercury (Hg): Non-detect (ND)
• Arsenic (As): 366 +/- 24 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 3530 +/- 382 ppm
• Chromium (Cr):  Non-detect (ND)
• Antimony (Sb): Non-detect (ND)
• Selenium (Se): Non-detect (ND)
• Zinc (Zn): 1,528 +/- 79 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 2,468 +/- 105 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 589 +/- 98 ppm
• Titanium (Ti): 4,514 +/- 935 ppm

While new marbles often have Lead, my experience has been that older ones are more likely to have higher levels of Lead than newer ones.

In my opinion, NO amount of Arsenic or Cadmium belongs in ANY toy intended for use by a child.

A consideration with glass marbles is that they can vary significantly from batch to batch (and from company to company) — so testing results from one batch within one company might be very different from the test results for the same product from a different batch from the same company!

Said simply: In nearly a decade of consumer goods testing, I have never found any particular company whose marbles consistently tested Lead-free (with XRF technology). Even companies who specifically market and advertise their marbles as Lead-free do not have consistently Lead-free marbles (based on the testing I have done!).

As a result, I do not recommend ANY marbles for used by younger children (especially for children who might put them in their mouth) because the average consumer does not have access to an XRF to test for variations and confirm safety from batch-to-batch.

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

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama

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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 sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005). Since 2009, Tamara has been using XRF technology (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 tested. Tamara’s work was featured in Consumer Reports Magazine in February of 2023 (March 2023 print edition).