Small metal curio box with porcelain lid: 533 ppm Lead (90 is unsafe for kids) + 14 ppm Cadmium

When tested with an XRF instrument this small metal box with a porcelain lid had the following readings:

Silver colored edge:

Lead (Pb): 533 +/- 177 ppm
Chromium (Cr): 355 +/- 126 ppm
Zinc (Zn): 1,267 +/- 429 ppm
Copper (Cu): 944,000 +/- 1,400 ppm
Iron (Fe): 1,167 +/- 281 ppm
Silver (Ag): 51,400 +/- 800 ppm

Note: When I originally spoke about this in one of my videos I noted that I recalled that it had not tested positive for Lead. Additional testing (with a longer duration for each test) corrected that “misunderstanding” as, in fact, it did test positive for Lead. Sometimes with metal substrates (and as in this example, components made entirely of metal) you need a much longer duration test to get a truly accurate reading.

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Porcelain top (image above):

Cadmium (Cd): 14 +/- 7 ppm
Zinc (Zn): 41 +/- 16 ppm
Nickel (Ni): 184 +/- 67 ppm
Iron (Fe): 5,653 +/- 333 ppm
Bismuth (Bi): 61 +/- 12 ppm
Vanadium (V): 112 +/- 25 ppm
Titanium (Ti): 227 +/- 37 ppm
Cobalt (Co): 1,873 +/- 161 ppm
Manganese (Mn): 11,700 +/- 161 ppm

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Silver colored bottom (image above):

Lead (Pb): 271 +/- 127 ppm
Zinc (Zn): 1,212 +/- 426 ppm
Copper (Cu): 978,700 +/- 1,200 ppm
Iron (Fe): 778 +/- 239 ppm
Titanium (Ti): 5,113 +/- 469 ppm
Silver (Ag): 12,400 +/- 400 ppm

Test results reported on this blog are accurate, science-based and replicable. Testing was done for a minimum of 60 seconds per component and repeated multiple times to confirm the results. Each set of results found was similar to the results sets noted above. If a metal is not listed for any component it was not detected in that component using the XRF in “consumer goods” mode – which tests any metals down to single digit parts per million.

How much Lead is unsafe?

While little boxes like this are not generally regulated at all currently (and vintage ones never were!)– as they are not manufactured or marketed as “items intended for use by children” (they are in fact generally considered to be “home decor” — which is a wholly unregulated category of consumer goods!), for reference, the amount of Lead that is considered illegal and unsafe in an item that is expressly manufactured and sold as something to be used by children is anything 90 ppm Lead or higher in the paint, glaze or coating and anything 100 ppm Lead or higher in the substrate. Given this came in at 553 ppm Lead, it would not be considered safe for a child to “play with” or “use” (from a Lead-perspective).

To see more curio boxes I have tested, click here.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you for reading and for sharing my posts!

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama