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.
Please read this entire post. It’s important information to share with anyone you know who has a baby who might use baby bottles.
When tested with an XRF instrument (for a minimum of 60 seconds per test), the Nuk brand glass baby bottle pictured here (purchased new in 2018) had the following readings:
- Lead (Pb): 19,900 +/- 500 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): 234 +/- 17 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 9,411 +/- 415 ppm
- Platinum (Pt): 362 +/- 104 ppm
Metals not listed were not detected by the XRF.
It’s February 2019 — two years after I first discovered Lead paint in newly-manufactured baby bottles (link) and frankly, I am OUTRAGED to find yet another popular/mainstream mass-manufactured TRUSTED brand of baby product using Lead paint on their glass bottles.
Parents are buying these glass bottles as a “healthier alternative to plastic”. They are specifically being marketed in that way, too. However, the levels of Lead I am finding in the paint on these items (and in the solder dots on the bottoms of many of the insulated stainless steel brands [link]) are UNACCEPTABLE. There should be NO allowable Lead in baby bottles.
When I contacted the CPSC about this (and when my readers contacted them, too), we were told that Lead paint on a baby bottle is “not a regulatory infraction” — because “if you scrape all of the Lead paint off of the bottle it is too small of an amount to be a concern.” This perspective — of only calculating the amount of (very-high Lead content) paint as a percentage of the total weight of the product is tragically dumb – or ominously worse: smacks of regulatory capture)!
Well, NOOOO! (She said, screaming as loud as she could!)
It just takes a microscopic amount of Lead to poison a child! Federal regulatory agencies (EPA, CDC, FDA) agree that there is no safe amount of Lead exposure for a child. The Lead content of the paint in most of these products is VERY HIGH. The amount of Lead – outside of this loophole – that is supposed to be considered illegal and unsafe for use in children’s products is anything 90 ppm Lead or higher in the paint or coating. The paint I tested on the outside surface of this baby bottle is almost 20,000 ppm.
Let that sink in.
SOMETHING.MUST.BE.DONE.ABOUT.THIS.
IT.IS.TIME.TO.ACT.
Outside of some initial news coverage on the issue when I first discovered this (back in January/February of 2017 – TWO FULL YEARS AGO), no one (not a single agency, nonprofit, company, celebrity, or lawmaker) has taken up this issue — even though I have strongly appealed to so many of these folks I have spoken with to help me bring attention to this problem to make this stop.
But today YOU can help: Share this post. Make it go viral. That will get the attention of the news and perhaps a celebrity or two will look down and contemplate their own baby, with their little fingers tightly curled around the painted logo as they innocently drink from one of these bottles — and will become equally enraged that they are painted with Lead paint. YOU can help spread the message in this way.
Below are the brands of baby bottles (that this website’s readers have randomly sent in for me to test) that I have found to have Lead in the past two years (either in the paint or the solder dot on the bottom of insulated stainless bottles). Not ONE of them has issued a public recall, let’s take this into our own hands as consumers and boycott these companies.
SOME of these companies have made changes to their products, but even the ones that did, did so QUIETLY — and never issued a recall for their Lead-contaminated products (click the name to read about their products):
Hevea • Jervis & George • Pura Kiki • Green Sprouts • Planet Box
Safer Chemicals? (Mike?), Environmental Working Group? (Ken?), Center for Environmental Health? (Michael?), USPIRG? (Kara?). THIS is your time to jump in and help. THIS is your time to shine. HELP ME bring INTERNATIONAL attention to this horrible offense being made by companies ostensibly selling “better”/”safer” (because they don’t contain plastic) choices for baby bottles. Call me: at 415-609-3182 (texting first is best), and let’s write a press release together.
Not another day should go by on this issue.
I have examples of each of these products in storage if you need to see them to study or review them yourselves.
To my readers, as always, thank you for reading and for sharing my posts.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Contributions from my readers make this work possible; please consider making a contribution to my GoFundMe if you would like to support the work I do.
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
TamaraRubin@mac.com 
Hevea:
This is so wrong! I posted a review for this bottle on Amazon disclosing the lead testing that you did. Hopefully they approve the review so parents can see it before buying!
Thank you so much for all that you do. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your work.
Thank you so much for doing this, Kat!
I wonder if the company will respond.
Tamara
You’re welcome. I still haven’t received notification that Amazon has even posted it….
Are you currently doing in-home consults? I’d love to set one up with you. I also have full collections of vintage Pyrex and other leaded dishes that I’d potentially be interested in donating if you need more things for your leaded museum. How would I get in touch other than commenting? Thank you!
Hi Kat,
Where do you live? Feel free to e-mail or text me: 415-609-3182, TamaraRubin@mac.com.
Tamara
Tamara, thank you for your work and all that you do – you are awesome! <3 That being said, I believe that most companies that make products that test positive for lead or other harmful contaminants simply DO NOT CARE about the people that are affected by their products being unsafe – they just want to sell their products and make money, at the expense of others. It's disgusting, but it's the reality of so many companies in the US especially! :/
Hi! Thank you for commenting!
– Tamara
I have subscribed to your site because I believe in the work that you are doing & providing for folks like me who are concerned with the onslaught of toxic products when it comes to food preparation, & many other decisions we make in order to make informed decisions when it comes to good health.
I posted a question to you days ago, perhaps unrelated to the article covered, but know of no other way in which to communicate w/ you. You do not provide an email address in any of your articles/videos which I’ve been able to find.
My question is about slow cooker. I’ve used a glazed lined insert in my Hamilton Beach slow cooker for making bone broth, which cooks low for as many as 48 hrs. I’m concerned about lead in the glaze. I’ve found on Amazon a slow cooker by ChefMate which has an unglazed insert, promoted by the Paleo group. Claims there’s little to no lead in insert. Wondered if you’ve tested this model, or if not–could you. I need to replace the HB glazed slow cooker right away, & was hoping for a response from you. Thanks
Hi Mary,
I’m behind in responding to people since I have had tens of thousands of visitors to my blog recently! Trying to get caught up. I’ve been publishing comments also knowing that sometimes other readers might have a moment to answer folks’ questions.
Tamara
Did you test the nipples or white plastic ring as well?
Did both the white and grey paint contain the same amounts of lead?
Have you tested the plastic version of this bottle?
Hi David,
I have tested many collars and nipples and they are generally negative for lead. The collar and nipple pictured are not the ones that were sold with this bottle, but I thought it would be funny to post a pic without a collar and nipple! 🙂
All of the colors of paint contained similar amounts of Lead.
The paint on their plastic bottles was Lead-free.
Tamara
I JUST bought a ton of these because I prefer glass bottles and my new baby wouldn’t take the Avent ones I used with my other child. This was the first bottle he successfully took and I was so excited I ordered a bunch more. Thank you so much for doing this! I will be returning them as soon as they arrive.
Have you tested the Evenflo glass bottles? I was hoping to try those next but now I’m nervous about all glass ones. If you haven’t, I would pay to send one to you to test! I think I saw you suggest that elsewhere on your site (I’m new here).
Are thebaby brezza bottles safe? I got those for my baby
I don’t believe I have tested that brand yet.
Tamara
I emailed their customer service and this is the response I received:
“Please be assured that all of our products are 100% free of SANS, PVC, lead, BPA, BPS, phthalate, and cadmium. Should you have any other questions please let me know.”
I specifically asked about the paint on the bottles. I have not tested them, so I don’t know if it is safe to trust the company without further verification.
Is it just this type of glass Nuk bottle or their other glass bottles? Ours looks different and does not have anything but the logo on it. Just curious if you have tested their other glass bottles or just this one design.
Hi Kendall,
I have only tested this one design.
Tamara
Have you tested the de brown glass bottles yet?
Dear Tamara,
Thank you for all your work. I too had purchased the Nuk bottle tested as a safe alternative and am truly disappointed. My understanding if that you have tested the Avent Natural glass bottle. Did you test the one with glass made in the USA (lableled made in USA on green packaging) or the ones with glass made in Europe? Just wanted to confirm before using.
Thanks in advance
Hi there. Thank you for commenting.
When I tested the Avent bottle I did not actually see the package, so I don’t know the answer to that. Sorry!
Tamara
Hello, did the test on the avent glass bottles come as negative for lead?
Here you go Aisha: https://tamararubin.com/2017/03/avent-glass/
Tamara
Hi Tamara,
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, for exposing all of this, educating us and for so fiercely fighting for what is right!
I also bought glass bottles because I wanted SO badly to limit the toxins my baby is exposed to, just as you said. I’ve been using Minbie for 7 and a half months now for my little one, and I’ve been in contact with them about this issue. They are an Australian brand but seems their products are made in the US. I’m not American and actually just wanted to ask you.. if the company say that they comply with the strict FDA requirements, what does this actually mean when it comes to the lead? Would that mean that there is no lead? Thank you so much for your time!
They sell one without the leaded paint decorations. https://amzn.to/35UllBC
I want to try Lifefactory but the NUK nipples cannot be beat.
If you look closely at those bottles in the image provided by Amazon (using my affiliate link above) there is a white painted logo on the bottle you linked to. I therefore have absolutely NO CONFIDENCE that the decorative elements on these bottles (in this case just the logo) are not Lead paint. Until I have more examples to test I think it is the safest course of action to assume all of their glass bottles have lead painted designs, logos and measuring marks.
Tamara
Hi Tamara so you think the plastic bottles from NUK are lead free? I bought some a month ago and I’m furious, my baby holds the bottle with her bare hands when she feeds. My bottle is the simply natural plastic bottle. It has a green simply natural logo and white measurements. I also bought a white polka dot NUK pacifier that will be going in the trash because I can’t trust this company – or perhaps even the parent company Graco.
Hi Melissa,
In my experience the Nuk plastic bottles are Lead-free, however I used glass with my children when they were small. I really like LifeFactory across the board. Here are a few posts with Lead-free glass bottles you might want to take a look at:
1) https://tamararubin.com/2017/10/drbrown/
2) https://tamararubin.com/2017/03/avent-glass/
3) https://tamararubin.com/2018/07/lead-free-baby-bottles-sigh/
Tamara
I was wondering if you have tested the MAM Glass bottles?
Hi Alexis,
I don’t believe I have tested any bottles from that brand yet (at least not in an extensive test on my blog.)
Tamara
Hi Tamara!
I was about to register for the NUK Simply Natural Glass Bottles (https://www.amazon.com/NUK-Simply-Natural-Glass-Bottles/dp/B07YMGM593) until I saw your post. However, I wanted to mentioned that I saw a review of them on Amazon, posted March 3rd of this year, that said :
“Purchased the NUK Simply Natural Glass Bottles Gift Set. Out of concern from other reviews about lead contaminated paint on NUK bottles, I also purchased EPA approved 3M lead testing kit. Test kit on the painted letters of these NUK glass bottles show NO lead contamination!!! Very satisfied with this NUK product. Borosilicate glass bottles feel very sturdy.”
Given this, and that almost all of the other reviews were glowing, I’m tempted to register for these and test for lead myself if someone buys them for us (and return/exchange them if they do, in fact, have lead). Do you think the reviewer’s testing method was accurate and something I could use myself?
Thank you!
Hi Holly,
It’s hard to know. I posted this finding quite some time ago and the company was made aware. It is very possible that they reformulated (silently) after finding out about my work. I don’t trust any company that doesn’t at least apologize to their customers after an incident like this (no apology, no recall, no refunds offered, no official public response that I am aware of.)
As a result I would personally not ever buy from this brand. Avent, LifeFactor, and Dr. Browns are all Lead-free in my experience.
They may also be positive but not test positive with a swab (I did not use a swab to test this bottle). You can read more about that on this link: https://tamararubin.com/2017/02/ask-tamara-q-can-i-test-my-dishes-for-lead-with-a-leadcheck-swab-a-sometimes-but-not-always-click-to-read-more/
Tamara
Thanks for the quick reply, Tamara! I really appreciate it.
YW!
Have you ever tested the Mam plastic bottles?