Folks are surprised when I say that relatively modern toys from their youth may not be safe for kids. This 1992 toy is painted with Leaded paint.

Introduction

Tamara Rubin is an independent advocate for consumer goods safety and she is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children. She began testing consumer goods for toxicants in 2009 and was the parent-advocate responsible for finding Lead in the popular fidget spinner toys in 2017. She uses XRF testing (a scientific method used by the Consumer Product Safety Commission) to test consumer goods for contaminants including Lead, Cadmium, Mercury and Arsenic.

90 PPM Lead (or higher) is unsafe for kids. This Super Block Head! game from 1992 tested positive for Lead at levels higher than 1,000 ppm!

The amount of Lead that is considered unsafe for items intended for use by children and made today is anything 90 ppm Lead or higher in the paint, glaze or coating, and anything 100 ppm Lead or higher in the substrate. I would not consider this toy safe for use by children today. Most important to know for context: this toy would be illegal if manufactured today. Please scroll down in the post to see the exact XRF test results for each color of block in this toy. The presence of Lead and the level of Lead in the paint (for those that did have Lead) varied by color.

“But I had a toy like this when I was a kid and I am ok!”

The sentiment expressed in the above quote (or some version of it) is a common refrain, and in response I wrote an entire post for you to share with parents or grandparents (or spouses or friends) whose lack of concern is based on that notion. Here’s a link to that post here. The fundamental guiding principle that we can all use in a situation like this is “Know Better, Do Better” – why would you knowingly give your child a toxic toy to play with? [Especially a younger child who might put that toy in their mouth!]

“Will my child get poisoned by using this particular toy?”

Strangely, this is a complete unknown — there is no manufacturer that has a financial interest in underwriting research to quantify the potential risk of their historic / vintage / legacy products (even though many vintage toys are products that were often “made to last a lifetime”, and are being handed down through the generations).

There have been several independent studies that demonstrate a basis for real potential concern for toxicants found in vintage toys in general (without identifying specific toys and specific manufacturers of concern). Here’s a link with more information. In my educated opinion – it is simply not worth the possible risk to allow any kid to play with vintage toys (specifically Lead-painted wooden toys in this case!) incorporating such potentially high levels of multiple neurotoxic metals. There are plenty of modern safer choices available for kids today – and they are normally quite inexpensive. The image below is an affiliate link* to a similar modern version of this exact game that is likely negative for Lead, Cadmium, Mercury and Arsenic.