Caveman Cups Heavy Duty “Extreme Use” Stainless Steel Pint Cups: #Safe! Non-detect for Lead, Cadmium, Mercury & Arsenic

 

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For those new to the Lead Safe Mama website:

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 four sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005).

• Tamara owns and runs Lead Safe Mama, LLC — a unique community collaborative woman-owned small business for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety.
• Since July of 2022, the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC has been responsible for five product recalls (FDA and CPSC).
• All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable.
• Please check out our press page to see some amazing coverage of our work so far this year!

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Caveman Cups contacted me recently and asked if they could send me some products to test (along with a contribution in support of my advocacy work) and if I would then report the results on my website and I said “sure!” ***(See below for more details.)

As expected, when tested with an XRF instrument, these Caveman Cups pint cups (pictured in this article) were negative for all of the main toxicants I generally look for and have a concern about: Lead, Mercury, Arsenic, Cadmium, and Antimony.

This is to be expected because non-complex food-grade all-stainless-steel items should normally be free of these toxicants, which is one reason why — as a rule — I recommend stainless steel products.

Continue reading below the image for the full detail of the XRF test results.

A Unique Feature of Caveman Cups

When I tested the cup, I noticed the somewhat novel cream-colored logo on the bottom. Even with the tens of thousands of items I have tested, I had never seen an etched logo with a distinct color like that, so I asked the company about it. Here is what they shared with me:

“The color of a laser etching in stainless can vary from dark gray to faint creamy reddish. It depends on the laser settings, heat, depth, pattern, timing, as well as the composition of the steel alloy, etc. as to what the final color is. We like there to be a slight color difference between the etching and base metal, so it is easier to see/read the logo. We also want our products to be timeless and classy and look beautiful on a table with other dishware, so we keep it low-key and always put the logo out-of-sight on the bottom. We chose the laser etching process because it’s more eco-friendly than acid etching and we specifically avoid all types of paints, epoxies, coatings, wraps, chemicals, etc. We also designed our products without seam welds, spot welds or crimping along edges as these are also notorious for harboring contaminants.”

Full XRF Test Results for Caveman Cups Pints

When tested with an XRF instrument, the cups pictured here had the following readings:

Reading #1 — side of cup

• Chromium (Cr): 151,500 +/- 600 ppm
• Bromine (Br): 22 +/- 9 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 743 +/- 239 ppm
• Nickel (Ni): 88,000 +/- 1,000 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 745,300 +/ 1,400 ppm
• Vanadium (V): 1,084 +/- 117 ppm
• Cobalt (Co): 3,112 +/- 815 ppm
• Manganese (Mn): 9,533 +/- 697 ppm
• Lead (Pb): Negative / Non-Detect
• Cadmium (Cd): Negative / Non-Detect
• Arsenic (As): Negative / Non-Detect
• Mecury (Hg): Negative / Non-Detect

Reading #1 — side of cup

• Chromium (Cr): 151,000 +/- 600 ppm
• Tin (Sn): 71 +/- 30 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 1,040 +/- 244 ppm
• Nickel (Ni): 88,400 +/- 1,000 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 745,100 +/ 1,400 ppm
• Vanadium (V): 1,075 +/- 117 ppm
• Cobalt (Co): 3,345 +/- 811 ppm
• Manganese (Mn): 8,965 +/- 690 ppm
• Lead (Pb): Negative / Non-Detect
• Cadmium (Cd): Negative / Non-Detect
• Arsenic (As): Negative / Non-Detect
• Mecury (Hg): Negative / Non-Detect

Reading #3 — logo area, bottom of cup
(60-second test, primarily to confirm Logo was clean/ did not include toxicants)

• Chromium (Cr): 151,800 +/- 1,000 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 1,028 +/- 408 ppm
• Nickel (Ni): 87,200 +/- 1,600 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 745,300 +/ 2,300 ppm
• Vanadium (V): 1,128 +/- 195 ppm
• Cobalt (Co): 3,214 +/- 1,361 ppm
• Manganese (Mn): 9,437 +/- 1,159 ppm
• Lead (Pb): Negative / Non-Detect
• Cadmium (Cd): Negative / Non-Detect
• Arsenic (As): Negative / Non-Detect
• Mecury (Hg): Negative / Non-Detect

All tests on these cups were completed for a minimum of 180-seconds/3-minutes. Results are scientifically accurate and replicable.

What is Stainless Steel, Exactly?

The readings (using the instrument’s installed optional “Consumer Goods” software module and testing mode) included an identification of the specific metal alloy of these cups as “Stainless Steel #304” — to learn more about Stainless products in general, check out this link: “What is Stainless Steel?” 

The primary constituent metals found in food-grade 504 stainless steel are Iron, Nickel*, and Chromium (combined in different amounts with additional ingredients to make the various stainless steel alloys).

In Conclusion…

These cups are certainly very solid, heavy, and durable — notably more so than most of the other stainless cups and similar products I have tested in the past; this is a feature that is obviously a signature intention/ selling point for the Caveman brand.

In light of the excellent test results, and the clean lines and sturdy construction of this product, I personally think these would be a great Lead-free choice for any family!

We have had other brands of stainless steel cups in our home that look similar (from a distance) but are actually much thinner and lighter-duty, which is not necessarily appropriate for my kiddos. I wish I had found these products when my children were much smaller (although the company didn’t exist then)!

Here is my amazon affiliate link for this exact product: https://amzn.to/2Ic8oKK.

I have several more products from this company that I will be testing and reporting on, so stand by (I will also be giving them away as prizes on Facebook, so check in there, too and make sure to follow my page!)… In the meantime, based on the the company’s healthy and practical design approach — and what I have seen and tested — I think Caveman Cups genuinely “walks-the-talk,” and would thus be an excellent choice for everyday use (as well as more rough-and-tumble use, like camping, sailing, etc)!

Is this a sponsored article?

1.) I don’t/ won’t do any sort of “paid endorsements” for a company or product that I haven’t already previously recommended, liked, or personally used. 

***When Caveman Cups approached me about creating some pieces with their product test results, I explained that…

2.) When a manufacturer or distributor makes a contribution in support of my work in exchange for me agreeing to test their product, if I find toxicants I will, as a courtesy, report back and give them an opportunity to fix whatever their production issues might be that resulted in the “fail” (so-to-speak), and to communicate with their customers, etc. — but regardless, I will ALSO report the results to my readers. (And, of course in such an event, folks that take prompt and responsible action will likely fare better with my readers than those who do not!)

This was not really a concern in this case as I did not expect to find any toxicants based on what I already knew about the products (including preliminary testing I had conducted at pubic events when families brought them to me).

So while this could be viewed (in a sense) as a “sponsored” article, I want my readers to know that, as always, my results are science-based, replicable, and most importantly, an impartial and honest assessment of the product.

As alway, thank you for reading and for sharing this work.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama

Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking on one of Lead Safe Mama, LLC’s links, we may receive a small percentage of what you spend at no extra cost to you.

P.S. What about Nickel leaching?

*While some people have concerns about Nickel allergies and leaching, I cannot personally speak to these these concerns. I have never experienced any issues (like health impacts, reactions, or allergies) with Nickel or Nickel-containing products with my family and we do use a lot of stainless steel products in our home.

My general advice around this subject is that (providing you start with Lead-free choices) it is a good idea to keep your dishware and cookware varied (choosing products made from a variety of materials) — with the thought that it is less likely then that any one element (Nickel, Chromium, Iron, etc) would present a health concern.

What this means for my family is that we primarily use a mixture of products in our home including stainless steel, cast iron, and clear glass in our kitchen (as well as bamboo and other untreated wood for some steaming, serving, or short-term storage applications), and we naturally vary which items we use on any given day (without really giving much thought to it).