Vintage Libbey green glass with fern pattern: 34,800 ppm Lead + 1,133 ppm Cadmium in the painted decorations.

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. To read more about the testing methodology employed for the test results reported on this blog, please click this link.

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July 18, 2021 – Sunday

XRF test results on the light green painted decoration of glass
Tested multiple times to confirm the results – 6o-seconds minimum per test

• Lead (Pb): 34,800 +/- 300 ppm
• Cadmium (Cd): 1,133 +/- 19 ppm
• Chromium (Cr): 3,266 +/- 158 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 59 +/- 39 ppm
• Cobalt (Co): 250 +/- 25 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 833 +/- 21 ppm
• Titanium (Ti): 9,622 +/- 527 ppm
• Indium (In): 7 +/- 4 ppm
• Antimony (Sb): 60 +/- 8 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 172 +/- 19 ppm
• Platinum (Pt): 460 +/- 43 ppm

XRF test results on the dark green painted decoration of glass
Tested multiple times to confirm the results – 6o-seconds minimum per test

• Lead (Pb): 31,200 +/- 300 ppm
• Cadmium (Cd): 836 +/- 14 ppm
• Chromium (Cr): 9,455 +/- 238 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 127 +/- 39 ppm
• Cobalt (Co): 1,661 +/- 49 ppm
• Nickel (Ni): 62 +/- 28 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 763 +/- 20 ppm
• Titanium (Ti): 3,759 +/- 436 ppm
• Indium (In): 10 +/- 4 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 162 +/- 18 ppm
• Platinum (Pt): 353 +/- 40 ppm

On the green (unpainted) bottom of the glass

• Chromium (Cr): 212+/- 105 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 271 +/- 38 ppm
• Nickel (Ni): 174 +/- 24 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 231 +/- 12 ppm

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Some additional reading that might be of interest:

• Other Libbey brand glassware I have tested
• The post discussing the testing methodology used on this website
• Some good choices for Lead-free glassware options
• An article about a study that discussed the concern for Lead painted glassware
• How to send in an item for testing
• “Why is this a problem? The Lead paint is only on the outside?“
• “Can I test these myself at home?”

Thanks for reading. Thank you for sharing my posts. As always – please let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them personally as soon as I have a moment (which may not be right away – but I will try!)

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama