Don't let kids play with vintage jewelry. 1971 Avon Fragrance Glacé Pin: 3,587 ppm Lead [90 is unsafe] + 275 Arsenic.

The amount of Lead that is considered toxic in a newly manufactured item intended for use by children today is anything 90 ppm Lead or higher in the paint or coating, or anything 100 ppm Lead or higher in the substrate.

Vintage items (especially vintage plastic items and vintage jewelry – and costume jewelry in general) often contain very high levels of Lead and should never be given to children to play with.

I am almost 50 years old, and I clearly remember playing with these plastic perfume pins as a child [I was born in 1969 and this particular pin is from 1971.] Many friends my age are now grandmothers(!) — grandmothers who have held on to things from their childhood to pass along to their children for their grandchildren to play with. Please think twice before doing this; most vintage items are decidedly not safe for children to play with — it literally takes just a microscopic amount of Lead to poison a child.

When tested with an XRF instrument (the same instrument used by the Consumer Product Safety Commission [CPSC] to determine if items are safe for use by children), this 1971 vintage Avon “Fragrance Glacé” perfume pin had the following readings (with a 30-second test):

Focus on painted face of girl:

Lead (Pb): 3,587 +/- 82 ppm
Arsenic (As): 275 +/- 52 ppm
Chromium (Cr): 856 +/- 113 ppm
Zinc (Zn): 37 +/- 13 ppm
Copper (Cu): 65 +/- 26 ppm
Iron (Fe): 64 +/- 33 ppm
Titanium (Ti): 23,000 +/- 700 ppm
If a metal is not listed it was not detected by the XRF (unless otherwise noted, all testing done on this site is in “Consumer Goods” mode)

Plain blue plastic of base and metal pin on back were negative for Lead, Cadmium, Mercury and Arsenic.

To see guidelines to help you choose safer jewelry for your children, grandchildren, and any other young humans in your life, check out this post, LINK.

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

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama