McFly Red Roshambo Baby Junior Shades: 1278 ppm Cadmium

McFly Red Roshambo Baby Junior Shades children’s sunglasses: 1278 ppm Cadmium

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POST UPDATE
[posted on Facebook]

UPDATE: I have been chatting with the owner of the company via Facebook private messenger – YES at 10:15 on SATURDAY night! AND we are going to talk on the phone tomorrow (Sunday). Just the fact that they are being so responsive and expressing concern and taking this issue seriously is AMAZING! They are obviously a terrific company that is trying to do the right thing in making nontoxic products and doing appropriate testing, and this concern for Cadmium in their red sunglasses is a huge surprise to them.
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Here’s what I have put together based on several different conversations tonight (with the owners and with my readers).
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Note: I am confident in my test results, I tested the product 4 times to confirm the levels.
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1. It is my educated guess that this is likely an issue only for the red glasses.
2. I have previously tested another pair of glasses from this company in another color and found them to be free of toxicants (Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Arsenic.)
3. Cadmium is often used as a colorant for red items (you can see many examples of that on my blog.)
4. These glasses are made in Italy and the Italian supplier to the U.S. company has assured the company that there is no toxicity concern for Cadmium. [The company has already contacted their supplier about this concern tonight.]
5. I have seen the report from the supplier/manufacturer which was for products through 2016 and states the products are free of Cadmium (and other toxicants.)
6. It is possible that this issue is limited to a certain batch or run of the product (and to only the color red) and we are going to look into that.
7. I have suggested that the company send me some of their new (2018) glasses – in different colors – for additional preliminary XRF testing, to see if they come in the same or different from this pair I tested (which was purchased last year – November 2017.)
8. In the meantime I think it would be prudent to set these glasses aside if you have them in red.
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Here’s a link to see this product on Amazon.*

As this product is positive for Cadmium AND is an item intended for use by children AND is an item that many children will very likely put in their MOUTHS (I’ve seen so many kids absent-mindedly sucking or even chewing on the temples of their sunglasses) – I would NOT recommend this item (or others from this brand without further testing.)

Cadmium is a known carcinogen. To read more about why Cadmium is a problem, Click HERE.

Related: #AskTamara: What to you use to test for Lead?

When these McFly Red Roshambo Baby Junior Shades were tested with an XRF instrument, these were the test results (please scroll down past the annoying advertisements to see all of the test results for each component of the glasses):

Black Plastic of Lens:

• Lead (Pb): Non-Detect / Negative
• Cadmium (Cd): Non-Detect / Negative
• Mercury (Hg): Non-Detect / Negative
• Arsenic (As): Non-Detect / Negative
• Antimony (Sb): Non-Detect / Negative

No metals detected 

Red Plastic of Frame:

• Lead (Pb): Non-Detect / Negative
• Cadmium (Cd): 1,278 +/- 24 ppm
• Mercury (Hg): Non-Detect / Negative
• Arsenic (As): Non-Detect / Negative
• Barium (Ba): 385 +/- 97 ppm
• Antimony (Sb): Non-Detect / Negative
• Selenium (Se): 488 +/- 11 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 50 +/- 7 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 20 +/- 10 ppm
• Nickel (Ni): 13 +/- 7 ppm

White Painted Logo Area of Lens:

• Lead (Pb): Non-Detect / Negative
• Cadmium (Cd): Non-Detect / Negative
• Mercury (Hg): Non-Detect / Negative
• Arsenic (As): Non-Detect / Negative
• Antimony (Sb): Non-Detect / Negative

(No metals detected)

Note: In 2017 I tested other versions of these glasses (other colors), and those colors were ND (Non-Detect) for all toxicants including Cadmium. As a result I think this may just be a concern with the red version of the product. It is also unclear (from the research I have done online) whether or not it is possible for Cadmium to leach from a plastic substrate (I don’t believe any studies have been done to determine that.) If you know of a study about the potential for Cadmium to leach from plastic substrates, please share it with me.

Also to Note: Last year, when I contacted a representative from Niton (the manufacturer of the type of XRF I use) to ask about the accuracy of Cadmium test results found in plastic and silicone substrates I was assured by the Niton rep that in “consumer goods mode” with the XL3T these test results for Cadmium should be considered accurate down to single digit parts per million.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you for reading and for sharing my posts.

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama

*Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking on one of my links I will receive a small percentage of what you spend at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my advocacy work in this way.