Orange Tupperware Cup (year unknown): Non-detect for Lead, Mercury, Cadmium and Arsenic.

To see more Tupperware items I have tested, click here.

When using an XRF instrument to test this plastic cup (which is made of solid orange plastic with no painted markings or decorations) it had the following readings:

Lead (Pb): Negative/Non-Detect (Nd)
Cadmium (Cd): Negative/Non-Detect (Nd)
Arsenic (As): Negative/Non-Detect (Nd)
Chromium (Cr): Negative/Non-Detect (Nd)
Antimony (Sb): Negative/Non-Detect (Nd)
Barium (Ba): 189 +/- 67 ppm
Bromine (Br): 4 +/- 2 ppm
Zinc (Zn): 1,491 +/- 26 ppm
Copper (Cu): 25 +/- 12 ppm
Nickel (Ni): 24 +/- 7 ppm
Iron (Fe): 2,830 +/- 58 ppm

All test results reported on this blog are replicable and accurate. The test result set above was for a test of this item for a full 90 seconds (1-1/2 minutes) in “Consumer Goods” mode. If a metal is not listed above, it was not detected by the XRF instrument in this mode.

A word of caution, given it is nearly impossible to tell the exact year of manufacture of a Tupperware product (because they are not marked in any way that would indicate the year of manufacture), the fact that this orange cup is negative for Lead, Cadmium, Mercury and Arsenic does not mean that other orange Tupperware items will also be negative. More testing and research is necessary to make that determination, however most examples of the vintage orange Tupperware products that I have tested have been positive for at least one toxicant.

If you have any information that could help date this particular item, that would be very much appreciated. Thank you for supporting this work in this way. Based on the color and the presence (or absence) of toxicants (and the research I have done to date) I would assume this possibly dates from the late-1980s.

If you appreciate this work and would like to see more test results like this, please consider contributing to the GoFundMe for my advocacy work: http://www.GoFundMe.com/LeadSafeMama. I do “take requests” as I live near quite a few antique stores and could easily go purchase something that you might want tested if the cost of the item were covered and a contribution that also helped with the cost of testing was made. Please e-mail me if you are interested in having me purchase something specific to test: TamaraRubin@mac.com

To learn more about participating in the regular (non-Tupperware related!) consumer goods testing I do with the support of my readers, please click this link.

As always, thank you for reading and for sharing my posts.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama

Click here to see the overview post showing all of the items I have tested so far.