May 1932 National Geographic Magazine: 3,256 ppm Lead + 26 ppm Cadmium. Not safe for kids.

Are old magazines safe for children to play with?

I tested this magazine in response to a question from a reader. The reader asked if it would be safe for their child to “cut up old National Geographic magazines” to use in art projects (collages). While I think it is unlikely that many children today might have occasion or opportunity to be cutting up an historic magazine quite this old (nearly 100 years old!), based on these test results, I must say that I would not recommend that magazines of this age should be handled by children at all — at least not without wearing gloves! I would not consider them safe given the levels of Lead and Cadmium found.

How much Lead is “too much” Lead?

Modern items are considered unsafe for children to play with if they test positive for Lead at 90 ppm Lead or higher in the paint or coating. The saturated ink colors in the images on the inside of this magazine tested positive for 3,256 ppm Lead – considerably higher than 90 ppm Lead and definitely not safe for children.The cover also tested positive for unsafe levels of Lead (far above 90 ppm).

Are newer vintage* magazines safe?

I have not tested “newer vintage” National Geographic Magazines, but will report results when I do. I have tested some newer vintage comic books however. I assume (based on the vintage book & comic book testing I have done) that newer magazines (1980 and newer) probably have Lead in safe ranges (and may even test completely negative for Lead.)

* ”vintage”, meaning around 20/25 years old or more, as opposed to “antique”, meaning in the range of 50 to 100 years or older). Here’s my post that discusses “vintage” vs. “antique.”

Exact readings of the magazine pictured

When tested with a high-precision XRF instrument, in “Consumer Goods” mode, the 1932 National Geographic Magazine had the following readings

Cover of magazine – on the yellow border:

• Lead (Pb): 289 +/- 23 ppm
• Cadmium (Cd): 26 +/- 5 ppm
• Chromium (Cr): 544 +/- 99 ppm
• Silver (Ag): 12 +/- 4 ppm
• Bismuth (Bi): 47 +/- 12 ppm
• Palladium (Pd): 9 +/- 3 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 134 +/- 24 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 3,708 +/- 263 ppm
• In: 35 +/- 8 ppm
• Vanadium (V): 198 +/- 56 ppm
• Titanium (Ti): 821 +/- 112 ppm

Cover of magazine – on the black title:

• Lead (Pb): 334 +/- 25 ppm
• Cadmium (Cd): 20 +/- 6 ppm
• Silver (Ag): 10 +/- 4 ppm
• Bismuth (Bi): 28 +/- 12 ppm
• Bromine (Br): 20 +/- 4 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 3,654 +/- 273 ppm
• In: 30 +/- 8 ppm
• Vanadium (V): 135 +/- 46 ppm
• Titanium (Ti): 579 +/- 89 ppm

Random page in the center (color image):

• Lead (Pb): 3,256 +/- 106 ppm
• Cadmium (Cd): 20 +/- 6 ppm
• Chromium (Cr): 1,452 +/- 135 ppm
• Silver (Ag): 13 +/- 4 ppm
• Bromine (Br): 244 +/- 12 ppm
• Palladium (Pd): 8 +/- 3 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 59 +/- 19 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 4,116 +/- 285 ppm
• In: 31 +/- 8 ppm
• Vanadium (V): 422 +/- 78 ppm
• Titanium (Ti): 1,166 +/- 142 ppm

Some additional reading that may be of interest:

• Vintage books I have tested.
• Comic books I have tested.
• Antique paper stickers I have tested.
• More information about the testing methodologies I use in my work.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you for reading and sharing my posts.

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama