2019 miniature Starbucks cup ceramic Christmas ornament (red & green): 529 ppm Cadmium (40 ppm is unsafe for kids)

For those new to this 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 sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005). Since 2009, Tamara has been using XRF technology (a scientific method used by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission) to test consumer goods for toxicants (specifically heavy metals — including Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Antimony, and Arsenic). All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable. Items are tested multiple times to confirm the test results for each component tested. Tamara’s work was featured in Consumer Reports Magazine in February of 2023 (March 2023 print edition).

When tested with an XRF instrument, this miniature ceramic Starbucks cup Christmas ornament with red and green glazed/ printed decorations and a red ribbon — purchased new at a Starbucks store in Washington State in 2019 — had the following readings:

Cadmium (Cd): 529 +/- 37 ppm
Chromium (Cr): 10,100 +/- 400 ppm
Selenium (Se): 97 +/- 38 ppm
Lead (Pb): Non-Detect / Negative
Barium (Ba): Non-Detect / Negative
Mercury (Hg): Non-Detect / Negative
Arsenic (As): Non-Detect / Negative
Antimony (Sb): Non-Detect / Negative

All tests were done for a minimum of 60 seconds each using a freshly calibrated Niton XRF instrument (an XL3T XRF testing in “Consumer Goods” mode). Tests were repeated multiple times to confirm the results. All test results reported on the site are science-based, accurate, and replicable.

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama