Ledljus Ikea string lights (indoor & outdoor use): 23,800 ppm Antimony plus trace Lead & Arsenic

  

---

For those new to the Lead Safe Mama 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 four sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005).

• Tamara owns and runs Lead Safe Mama, LLC — a unique community collaborative woman-owned small business for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety.
• Since July of 2022, the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC has been responsible for five product recalls (FDA and CPSC).
• All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable.
• Please check out our press page to see some of the amazing coverage of our work so far this year!

---

What is Antimony?

Scientists have determined Antimony to be a carcinogen in rat studies, and have at this stage categorized it as a “suspected carcinogen” in humans. Using it in Christmas lights as a component of flame retardants in the electrical components is considered a “normal” and “safe” application of this heavy metal. Most modern electric cords have fairly high levels of Antimony (this is the metal that manufacturers used to replace Lead in many applications).

It is my opinion that the impact of Antimony in so many household goods (even at levels currently considered “safe” by U.S. regulatory agencies) has not yet been studied enough to determine whether or not it is in fact safe (especially in terms of the potential aggregate impact of so many combined sources in our homes). Consumer goods with Antimony in our homes include blankets, dolls, pillows, plastic peanut butter jars, mattresses, appliance cords, Christmas lights, and more. As a result of this concern, I have chosen not to have any string lights in my home (I also avoid eating peanut butter packaged in plastic containers)!

Note: The string lights pictured here also tested positive for traces of Lead and Arsenic (both at levels considered safe by all current standards).

An exception… Christmas lights that may be a better choice:

Modern, battery-operated string lights tend to be free of both Antimony and Lead (as these metals are not applied as a flame retardant in these items — since they are low-voltage DC battery-operated, rather than being subject to industry practices and regulations governing electrical appliances that are powered by plugging into outlets supplying a 120V AC house current). If you use Lead-free rechargeable batteries with battery-operated lighting strings, I think that is a more sustainable (i.e. better for the environment, your family, and the health of your home) option for Christmas lights (or other applications for string lights).

When tested with a high-precision XRF instrument in “Consumer Goods” mode, the Ikea Christmas string lights pictured here had the following readings:

Reading #1) the clear “glass* bulb” component of lights — image above (*it may be all or mostly plastic — I did not disassemble for testing, so cannot be sure)

• Tin (Sn): 160 +/- 29 ppm
• Bromine (Br): 414 +/- 17 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 25 +/- 15 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 147 +/- 25 ppm
• Nickel (Ni): 56 +/- 18 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 412 +/- 59 ppm
• Titanium (Ti): 125 +/- 25 ppm

Reading #2) the main twisted black cord of the lights

• Antimony (Sb): 5,536 +/- 179 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 1,982 +/- 151 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 8,719 +/- 361 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 238 +/- 139 ppm
• Titanium (Ti): 397 +/- 109 ppm
• Chlorine (Cl): 288,500 +/- 7,300 ppm

Reading #3) the black plastic body of the lights

• Antimony (Sb): 367 +/- 51 ppm
• Tin (Sn): 7,086 +/- 189 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 571 +/- 48 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 171 +/- 58 ppm
• Titanium (Ti): 381 +/- 36 ppm

Continue reading below the image.

Reading #4) black plastic connector point at the end of the lights — see image above

• Antimony (Sb): 16,700 +/- 700 ppm
• Bromine (Br): 31,500 +/- 1,300 ppm
• Arsenic (As): 59 +/- 18 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 164 +/- 32 ppm
• Vanadium (V): 666 +/- 400 ppm
• Titanium (Ti): 450 +/- 57 ppm

Reading #4.b.) same component tested — second test

• Antimony (Sb): 23,800 +/- 1,000 ppm
• Bromine (Br): 50,400 +/- 2,200 ppm
• Arsenic (As): 59 +/- 23 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 306 +/- 43 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 202 +/- 88 ppm
• Vanadium (V): 914 +/- 419 ppm
• Titanium (Ti): 701 +/- 78 ppm

Reading #5) electrical black plastic plug — see image below

• Antimony (Sb): 698 +/- 57 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 327 +/- 168 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 892 +/- 137 ppm
• Chlorine (Cl): 341,300 +/- 9,800 ppm

Continue reading below the image.

Reading #6) electric plug — thick cord component — see image above

• Antimony (Sb): 5,400 +/- 228 ppm
• Bromine (Br): 65 +/- 18 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 793 +/- 120 ppm
• Titanium (Ti): 155 +/- 80 ppm
• Chlorine (Cl): 204,200 +/- 6,900 ppm

Reading #7) electric plug connector (large black plastic tube) — image above

• Lead (Pb): 27 +/- 13 ppm
• Tin (Sn): 6,792 +/- 169 ppm
• Bismuth (Bi): 186 +/- 24 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 2,210 +/- 252 ppm
• Bromine (Br): 20 +/- 6 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 138 +/- 29 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 1,942 +/- 87 ppm
• Nickel (Ni): 67 +/- 23 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 108 +/- 45 ppm

Continue reading below the image.

Reading #8) the straight black “extension” cord component of the lights (not twisted) — see image above

• Antimony (Sb): 5,362 +/- 273 ppm
• Selenium (Se): 54 +/- 29 ppm
• Arsenic (As): 63 +/- 29 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 1,312 +/- 190 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 5,017 +/- 395 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 459 +/- 230 ppm
• Vanadium (V): 2,822 +/- 1,511 ppm
• Titanium (Ti): 2,960 +/- 231 ppm
• Chlorine (Cl): 266,700 +/- 9,800 ppm

Some additional reading that may be of interest to you:

• More Ikea products with XRF test results
• More Christmas lights with XRF test results
• More Christmas items with XRF test results
• And here’s some background information on the testing Lead Safe Mama conducts and reports here on this website.

Takeaway:

When using Christmas lights, get the most modern (of recent manufacture) lights you can (ideally brand new — or, if purchased used, in the original packaging with any original warning labels — since antique or vintage Christmas lights can be incredibly toxic/ really unsafe).

If modern string-lights (sold in stores today) do not bear a Prop 65 warning on the packaging, that means they are (usually) Lead-free. Conversely, if they do have a Prop 65 warning, that means they probably still have unsafe levels of Lead in the cables (yes, even with brand-new modern lights)! Please always consider wearing gloves when hanging any Christmas lights (or at the very least, washing your hands thoroughly afterward) — especially when the toxicant profile is unknown.

As always, thank you for sharing and reading our articles. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama