Another reason to avoid vintage toys – 1985 Imperial Toys T-Rex: 7,872 ppm Lead. This would be illegal if made today.
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 1985 “Imperial Toys” brand Tyrannosaurus Rex 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):
- Lead (Pb): 7,872 +/- 139 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): 34 +/- 8 ppm
- Barium (Ba): 560 +/- 55 ppm
- Chromium (Cr): 651 +/- 162 ppm
- Antimony (Sb): 110 +/- 17 ppm
- Bromine (Br): 55 +/- 7 ppm
- Tin (Sn): 290 +/- 17 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 240 +/- 27 ppm
- Copper (Cu): 88 +/- 31 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 116 +/- 56 ppm
Green Painted Back (image above):
Green Painted Back (image above):- Lead (Pb): 6,847 +/- 166 ppm
- Barium (Ba): 158 +/- 56 ppm
- Chromium (Cr): 747 +/- 183 ppm
- Antimony (Sb): 72 +/- 19 ppm
- Bromine (Br): 39 +/- 9 ppm
- Tin (Sn): 159 +/- 18 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 254 +/- 32 ppm
- Copper (Cu): 219 +/- 47 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 375 +/- 80 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 3,928 +/- 1,425 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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My son was given a brachiosaurus from this toy line up, he’s been playing with it a bit and it’s been stored and washed in the same washer with our other toys!!! I’ve since taken it away but I am wondering is it safe to leave up on a shelf undisturbed? It’s actually a collectible and also holds sentimental value, I would hate to destroy it.
This dinosaur collection was some of my favorite toys growing up. I….carried it around by the tail in my mouth and chewed on it constantly. I ordered the whole collection from ebay last week. I have no kids so I will be putting them on display. But if I get cancer some day I dont care what caused it. Imma say a t-rex did it.
Found this while trying to track down some second-hand toys I got as a kid. Good to know, I guess. Hope it’s not too late for me, lol.
Hi! Thanks for commenting! You might appreciate this video link that shows you how to search the website, there are hundreds of different vintage toys with test results among the more than 3,500 posts and pages of info:
https://tamararubin.com/2022/05/how-to-use-the-lead-safe-mama-website-video/
Tamara