I am so thankful to one of my readers (thank you Gail!) who found the 1982 Tupperware catalog and photographed each and every page and e-mailed them to me! Here they are to serve as a reference to help us date some of the vintage Tupperware pieces that I (together with the help of my readers) have tested for toxicants.
It looks like many of the pieces I have tested so far ARE actually from this catalog, which (if I am correct about that) shows that Tupperware products contained Lead, Cadmium, Mercury and Arsenic through at least 1982! Click here to see all of the Tupperware pieces I have tested so far.
As always, thank you for reading and for sharing my posts.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
Click on any of the images below to see the page full size!
I have many of the pieces in the 1982 catalogue. Have you tested any of the clear pieces or the maroon colored pieces. I also have a few of the toys. This is very concerning.
I have purchased so many of these pieces shown when I was a teenager moving out on my own and still use them to this day. I am in Canada but sure they all come from the same manufacturer. As someone who is ill also, it scares me and am concerned for my family’s health. Were they manufactured in China? What are they doing about it?
I noted a few pieces my dad (close to 80) and 96 year old gramma still have. None are sick or ever had cancer. I made it through using that stuff, too! 🙂 Not saying to ignore it, but don’t freak out entirely. From my experience, whatever they REPLACE it with is just as bad or worse. Look at flea collars. The chemical is actually BANNED (this is rare; most chemicals are never outright banned) and only allowed use in flea collars and shelf paper. Btw, you don’t need a flea collar IN the city. You see a tick, (they’ll pick at it) or a flea, just deal with it then. Don’t dose the pet EVERY MONTH with poison for no reason. The same pet you touch (skin absorbs) and sleeps with your children.
I take care of dogs all day. Only had fleas once in 30 years and we all got a tick each from the woods one year. Just removed it, no major. Those flea baths and such kill bugs for good reason. The bugs will still be here after the nuclear holocaust, so maybe consider that whatever kills them can’t be good for us. Don’t do it if you can avoid it. Jmo
I sold Tupperware in 1980. The majority of the pieces that were for sale in 1980 were also for sale in the 1982 catalogue. I found out how bad plastic was and got rid of the majority of it in the early 2000’s. But I had no idea that plastic and Tupperware had lead and the other toxins that you test for. Thank you, Tamara for your work. It is never too late to work toward a healthier life.
Absolutely horrifying. I grew up with my mother and every others friends mother I knew who had a plethora of this entire collection. I still have the pink canisters from 1989 all 6! SHAME ON YOU TUPPERWARE.
Thank you for commenting, Eileen. So far the colors that have been positive for heavy metals (consistently – but not always) are the oranges, yellows and greens. I haven’t yet had a pink, blue or brown test positive – although I don’t want to imply any false hopes as I have not tested every color. Plus the pre-2010 pieces also (by the company’s admission) have BPA – which is known to cause health complications.
– Tamara
Well, he (Mr. Tupperware) had no problem completely screwing over Brownie Weiss, either and her face made his entire company. He gave her BUTKUS. lol.
How about E50. with the lids? I still use my set regularly .
Have you tested the shape sorter? I have this one at home, but I’m presuming it’s not safe.
Hi Hannah!
I have tested one – but I want to test some others from more years to know if there are some that are safe and some that are not. So far the ones I have tested have been Lead-free, but they may have been very modern. I am looking for one with “provenance” to test – where the owner knows exactly when it was bought new, so I can have confidence in posting my results.
Tamara
This is quite frightening. I have a lot of these items as I grew up in a home where we used Tupperware all the time and I inherited a lot from my mother. Time to clean and find new storage items. A lot of wasted money. We all know Tupperware isn’t that cheap. I also spent 3 years as a dealer so I am greatly concerned.
Thank you for commenting, Tania!
Tamara
I am shocked at the levels and types of toxins in all of this kitchenware: Corelle, Tupperware, Pyrex etc. I have SO MANY pieces from this Tupperware book. I purchased most items between 1979 – 1984 after buying our first house. I have not used the orange, yellow, brown, green pieces in many years but I regularly use the classic sheer pieces (A40, A70, G35, G20, G30, T5, T10, T15) and the ultra clear canisters with tan and orange push button tops. I also use P30, the small gold strainer. UGH! Over the years I’ve switched to mostly glass in the kitchen but just couldn’t toss the plastic because they are so much lighter to carry my lunch to work. UGH!! I just removed all old plastic from my cabinets. I will keep checking back to see if the classic sheer and ultra clear pieces have been tested. I could send you many, many items to test if you’d like. Thank you for what you do!
Tamara,
Thank you for all you do! Guess it is time to clean out the Tupperware and invest in new containers. Amazing how many of these products I have and still use. Would you like me to send you some of the items that you haven’t tested? For the BPA factor alone, it should all be sent back to Tupperware for disposal.
I was born in 1981, a lot of these items were in my house for almost all of my life! It’s probably still in my mother’s, my grandma was also still using them! I’ll pass the info, I used to eat my cereals in the cereal bowl! How much lead was I exposed to over the years, I don’t know if I really want to know! Kind of scary, I’ll make sure to get rid of these and keep them away from my kids! Those companies were endangering our health!
Hi Marie! Thank you so much for commenting!
– Tamara
The items from this catalogue are closer to 1970’s. I sold from this catalogue back then and have more than half of those items. I left NYC and stopped selling in 1977.
You would likely want to correct the date range to 1972- 1978, at least. The Tupperware website (do they have history of?) might have more accurate dating.
The catalog is clearly marked “1982”on the cover actually, Helen. I think they just carried a lot of the same items through the years.
Tamara
Tamara, this catalog should help you to date the red bell tumbler you posted about. It appeared to me to be either cranberry or paprika (it’s hard to be certain in a photo and with differences in computer monitors, I lean toward it being the slightly lighter paprika from how the photo looks to me) as shown in the square away set (P82) which looks to be the first set introduced with those colors. In the following years when I sold Tupperware (circa ’82-’84), those colors were used for mixing bowls, snack cups, freezer containers, to name just a few and the old brown, green, orange and yellow were phased out. I don’t know how long they were used before they moved on to another color combo.
Thank you!
I agree. Her hair is a dead giveaway to those that were there, even if it didn’t have a date…jmo
These are also many of the same items I purchased in 1986-87, and still have.
The catalog is correct. The same colors were sold for years. You can’t have something from 1977 copyright 1982. You think they are time travelers?
I would have also bought these items in the late 70’s & early 80″s. Is there a list of the items somewhere that are toxic?
Hmm… I just discovered this blog, and had never thought about Tupperware being harmful ( outside of BPA). My family has used well over 100 of these items for at least 37 years, so I can’t help but wonder if this could be related to the cancer that developed into Thyroid during my 20s. I would say that on an average day I use at least 5 Tupperware items, and that more than half of our kitchen gadgets and containers are Tupperware. I have even collected my own versions of favorites from my parents collection…
I wish the company would remake these in a safe manner (and as close as possible to the original formats). The items I’ve seen from them seem so cheap.
Also, I wonder if the varied testing results have to do with whether items were used in the micro/ to cook/ with hot substances.
Have you any evidence of Tupperware plastic causing toxic Illness. As these products go back more than 40 nearing 50years.
No she does not. She is not a scientist and does not have any experience in the chemical and plastics manufacturing field. She is just someone from Facebook spreading paranoia. She started this only a few years ago, it’s all fearmongering. None of her tests have any validity to them.
You’re so funny!
I have won two awards from the Federal Government for my advocacy work (in 2011 and 2014.)
I started doing consumer goods testing for toxicants in 2009. Here’s a link to my certificate: https://tamararubin.com/2017/09/certificate/
I use the same scientific instrumentation used by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to test consumer goods for toxicants including Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Arsenic, Antimony and more. You can read more about this here: https://tamararubin.com/2016/12/ask-tamara-what-do-you-use-to-test-for-lead/
I am considered an expert in this specific field and am often hired by State and County health departments and other public agencies to give trainings for employees or to do presentations for doctors, nurses, teachers and others to get CEUs (Continuing Education Credits) for their respective fields. I have even done presentations for several groups of EPA employees.
Last year I was an invited guest speaker at Stanford University.
This year Consumer Reports Magazine did a write up of my work. Here’s the Consumer Reports Magazine Article link: https://www.consumerreports.org/toxic-chemicals-substances/the-power-of-citizen-science-a1450367401/
My work has been responsible for 5 product recalls in the past year.
It’s okay if you don’t want to believe in science – there’s a huge segment off the American population who feels the same way as you. Have fun with that.
#DarwinAwards
Tamara
Will Tupperware replace old items ? They do have lifetime guarantee don’t they . Unfit for purpose sounds like good replacement reason .
Hello , do the modular mates contain lead and other harmful things. Mine have the burgany lids. From around 1988
Thank you Sharon
So I have orange measuring cups and yellow bow also orange bowl. I also have clear containers some have brown lids. What are they going to do about this if anything.
I have several of these items. Bowls and measuring cup. I also have clear containers that have brown lids I didn’t know about lids .
Tamara, do all the items in the 1982 catalog contains lead and harmful metals? Or just some of them, but all contain BPA?
I haven’t tested enough to know. I posted the catalog images to help date some of the pieces I have tested. If you click on the tab the top for “Tupperware” or “Vintage Tupperware” you can see the pieces I have tested and the levels. It is really hard to date the pieces since they are not marked with a manufacturing date and since they reissued colors and styles. Pre-2010 does have BPA tho, so I would expect anything pre-2010 could be harmful and would therefore be prudent to avoid.
Tamara
Have you tested the P30 Pastry Sheet? I have one from the late ’70s or early ’80s.
Do you know if it contains BPA? I assume it does becuase it is so flexible but I what about other chemicals?
Thanks,
I sold the 1982 pkg and I still use them on regular basis. And my family & I continued to use them It’s 2021 and I am concerned of what this has done. Both my son had tumor in hip and daughter tumor in brain. Both non malignant but concerned this lead, etc had a role to play in their Heath. Now i have grandchildren that have ate, played with the same toys. I was looking online to order more lids for this set & I as a mother & Grandmother am horrified to read this!
I am so sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Joyce. Unfortunately Tupperware is taking no responsibility for this – which is easy to do because the potential impacts of this type of persistent exposure have not been studied – so (in the absence of studying the concern) they have no culpability (from that perspective.)
Tamara
Cancer is genetic. It is not caused by chemicals. You have bad genes in your family.That’s all there is to it.
How do I get a hold of a test kit to check some of my old products not on your list? I have old juice jugs that were made in Canada and likely bought in the 70’s or 80’s. I still use them for my family but now am concerned about safety.
I was a Tupperware Distributor, along with my mom four different times in four locations. Most of my stuff was from that 1982 catalogue. I have dumped lots of it, but still have some of the clear ones with red or blue lids in use. I am in progress of letting it go.
Been buying new LocknLock plastics for dry goods, and using their glass bottoms with plastic lids for wet stuff , 2023 manufactured. Have you tested any LocknLock sold on QVC?
Thanks!
I haven’t tested those yet, sorry!