1981 Colorforms Tummy Ache the Junk Food Game, hamburger piece: 11 ppm Lead (safe by all current standards… but…)

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).

Vintage Colorforms

The Colorforms game piece pictured here tested “safe by all modern standards” — meaning it did not test positive for a level of Lead above the 90 ppm threshold set by the CPSIA for the presence of Lead in modern consumer goods manufactured for children’s use today. HOWEVER… the reader who sent this in only sent the board (with the one coated cardboard game piece pictured here), NOT the vinyl/ plastic/ rubberized pieces that come with most Colorforms sets.

This made me curious….

As a result, my curiosity was piqued. I checked out eBay and purchased a NEW-in-box (never used) vintage Colorforms toy set (also, coincidentally from 1981) and tested both the background board AND the rubberized “sticker” components for Lead. The results of that testing were quite alarming. Stand by for those test results (to be published and linked here shortly), and in the meantime, below are the test results for the game piece pictured.

1981 Colorform Tummy Ache, the Junk Food Game Piece — Hamburger XRF Test Results

Front of the piece:

• Lead (Pb): 11 +/- 3 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 166 +/- 10 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 25 +/- 9 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 343 +/- 27 ppm
• Titanium (Ti): 1,644 +/- 247 ppm

As always, thank you for reading and sharing Lead Safe Mama’s articles and posts. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama