The amount of Lead that is considered unsafe and illegal in a modern item manufactured for use by children today is anything 90 ppm or higher in the paint or coating or anything 100 ppm or higher in the substrate. As a result of the high levels of Lead found in this 1986 “Dor Mei” Toys brand Spinosaurus toy dinosaur [made in China] this toy would be considered illegal if sold for use by children today. (Scroll down below the images to see exact full XRF test results for the toy pictured here)
To see more toys I have tested, click here.
To see more toy dinosaurs I have tested, click here.
When tested with an XRF instrument this toy dinosaur had the following readings (each test done for at least 60 seconds, metals not listed were not detected in consumer goods mode):
Scroll down below the images to see the readings associated with each image.
Belly (unpainted – image above):
Belly (unpainted – image above):- Lead (Pb): 5,342 +/- 128 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): 52 +/- 10 ppm
- Barium (Ba): 1,579 +/- 80 ppm
- Chromium (Cr): 986 +/- 224 ppm
- Antimony (Sb): 207 +/- 22 ppm
- Bromine (Br): 37 +/- 8 ppm
- Tin (Sn): 302 +/- 22 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 59 +/- 28 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 211 +/- 77 ppm
Red Painted Back (image above):
Red Painted Back (image above):- Lead (Pb): 5,141 +/- 121 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): 45 +/-9 ppm
- Barium (Ba): 1,369 +/- 73 ppm
- Chromium (Cr): 839 +/- 205 ppm
- Antimony (Sb): 207 +/- 21 ppm
- Bromine (Br): 27 +/- 8 ppm
- Tin (Sn): 284 +/- 20 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 77 +/- 27 ppm
- Copper (Cu): 72 +/- 37 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 183 +/- 70 ppm
While Lead can cause permanent brain damage in young children (as with my son who has a diagnosed brain injury from being Lead poisoned as a baby), the presence of Cadmium and Antimony in this toy are also concerning as each of those heavy metals has been demonstrated to cause cancer.
If you have a collection of vintage toys like this you should not let children play with them ever. If you absolutely must keep them, please consider keeping them only in a locked display cabinet (behind glass?) so they are not accessible to any children in your life.
The test results reported here on this blog are science-based, accurate and replicable. Multiple tests were done on the separate components to confirm the levels. All test results reported on this blog are from testing done with a freshly calibrated XRF instrument testing in “Consumer Goods” mode (with readouts in parts per million – ppm.)
As always, please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you for reading and for sharing my posts.
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
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