$140 x 30 = $4,200
$175 x 30 = $5,250
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). Tamara’s work was featured in Consumer Reports Magazine in February of 2023 (March 2023 print edition).
Updated Saturday — August 14, 2021
OOPS — I wrote a book! (Sorry about the super long article!)
Posted on Facebook Tonight (wee hours — August 12, 2021)
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What follows: A general “Tamara Health Update” (so you guys know what’s going on) and a “pitch” to raise the funds to move forward with my legal case (suing the State of Oregon in Federal Court for multiple counts of Civil Rights violations against me that attempted to destroy my advocacy work)… Here’s the original filing of my lawsuit if you have not yet read it: https://tamararubin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Lead-Safe-Mama-is-Suing-the-State-of-Oregon-in-Federal-Court-August-2019.pdf
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So… hello! It’s Thursday — August 12th! (The wee hours! — almost 2:00 a.m.) I am barely functional at the moment.
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SECTION 1) HEALTH UPDATE
On Friday (August 6th) the surgeon cut incisions down both sides of my right leg / ankle to remove the hardware in my Tibia and Fibula – from my surgery in January (11 bolts and a plate) and while they were in there they “scoped” out my ankle and removed “a ton” of scar tissue created by the impact fall when I broke my leg on January 6th. The surgeon also determined that I lost a bunch of cartilage in my ankle from the impact of the fall and will eventually need an ankle replacement but they don’t normally do those until people are much older (I am only 51) because they don’t last very long.
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So in the meantime once I am back on my feet again (in 3 weeks or so when they allow me to start weight bearing) I can expect to have more mobility (thanks to the removal of the internal scar tissue) but can also expect to live with MORE pain. What fun! Again – I guess this means I am officially old.
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I have so many doctor appointments scheduled through September I cannot even keep track. Through all of this (dealing with complications from my fall) we confirmed an auto-immune disorder cluster (4 “abnormal” labs) – including arthritis – and I am seeing a specialist for all of that on September 16th. I am also dealing with a relatively rare (and very painful) skin condition – which is related to the rheumatology stuff / immune stuff (& which was worsened by a doctor who has not been overseeing my whole health prescribing something stupid that made things worse so my skin tore.)
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I want to acknowledge that – to many, especially those new to the group- this may seem like far too much information (TMI) for me to share here in this forum – especially since there are so many people in the group now and it is far beyond the point of me knowing everyone personally BUT so many of you are friends and follow my personal story closely that I felt another update was due.
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I can – at least (post-surgery)- now go back to taking Advil for the pain (which I was not able to do in the week prior to my surgery as it can complicate the anesthesia.) Speaking of anesthesia it also looks like they used a tube that was too thick for my throat and they appear to have nicked my vocal cords. Luckily today I have just begun to speak more normally (but still with some pain.) A friend here on Facebook suggested asking for pediatric intubation equipment next time – which was feedback I was really happy to get because the next time I will be put out for a surgical procedure is August 25th and at least now I know something to ask for to avoid this (random complication) in the future.
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SECTION 2) OCTOBER WORK TRIP
All the above aside… (“The Show Must Go On”) things are still on track for me to travel the United States to work directly with families from September 29 to October 28 (all the big medical stuff should be behind me by the third week in September.)
HOWEVER I think people may be panicking a bit with the Delta Variant dominating the news (and our lives) and my schedule has not filled out as anticipated for October. Normally I have at least 10 – and sometimes more than 15 – small events, one-on-one consultations and meetings scheduled for each of my travel months and – as of this moment – I still have just four confirmed for Late-September/October.
My stated goal was to have 30 one-on-one home consultations or small community events before the end of the year so that I could pay off the loan that helped cover the bulk of the XRF repair costs and also to help cover legal fees – but it doesnt look like that is going to happen. If you think you might be interested in having me come to your home, here’s a link with the Septebmer / October schedule and additional details to hire me for a CoViD-19 conscious (socially distanced, masked, vaccinated, doors and windows open or outdoors!) home consultation or small community event (I will go anywhere in the United States): https://tamararubin.com/2021/05/october-2021-lead-safe-mama-travel-schedule-florida-boston-utah-your-town/
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SECTION 3) TESTING STUFF
*Catching Up + New Stuff*
Today Carissa came to help me (and to be my legs and my brain a bit too – since I cannot get up and around and am in so much pain recovering from the surgery.)
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Carissa was here “babysitting” me the WHOLE DAY (Thank you Carissa Berg!) and we got a ton done (and got packages sent back to people too) and I am on track to be caught up with everyone soon (even stuff that has been on hold for a very long time because I didn’t have access to an instrument that was great for testing substrates like clear glass and silicone items that might test positive for single digit levels of toxicants.)
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I want to – again- thank everyone who helped me cover the cost of a rental instrument while the new-to-me instrument is getting refurbished. Your items will be tested very quickly too (once the backlog is finished!)
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I’m so excited that I will soon have my own instrument that is actually owned by Lead Safe Mama, LLC! I am also very excited for all of the possibilities this will open up too. It’s been amazing to get through so much work / testing of items that have been sitting around for so long – both to get answers to people and to be able to send stuff back to folks. I think with 3 or 4 more work days like today I will be 100% caught up (and hopefully I can get those 3 or 4 days of work done over the course of the coming week.)
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HOWEVER – while the cost of the rental instrument was covered – I still have only raised a couple hundred dollars towards my new legal retainer. I ended up diverting a big chunk of my grocery money this month to make the initial $1,000 payment I made to the lawyer and still need to raise $5,000 to have that retainer paid in full.
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Since (because of Delta) folks seem to be cautious to book home consultations or events for October I needed to come up with something else to raise the $ for the legal retainer so I decided that (even though I previously said I would not be testing boxes of things anymore – because it is so much work!) I am going to open up 30 (final!) spots for testing boxes this year – testing that will happen between August 31, 2021 and December 31, 2021.
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If this works out and 30 people are interested and reserve a spot to have their things tested I should be able to raise enough to pay the rest of the legal retainer (this is for the phase of the lawsuit that will include taking the State of Oregon to Jury trial in my federal Civil Rights case against them.) Testing 30 boxes worth of stuff (150 items!) is going to be a lot of work but I will have an instrument 24/7 for that entire time (the final 4 months of the year) and will be able to do testing and reporting every day that I have childcare…. so I am finally getting to a workable paradigm (especially since I now have a regular babysitter for Charlie!)
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So here’s the plan:
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I will not accept any more new boxes of things to test until I have 100% finished the work pending (that I have on hand) and gotten everyone’s items shipped back to them.
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People can pay now to reserve a spot for testing that will be done between 8/31 and 12/31/2021 and I will email each of them as soon as I am ready to begin accepting boxes again (likely starting August 25th)
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Items will be tested in the order that people reserve their spot for testing.
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I have raised the rates a bit. The new rates are still relatively affordable – and still do not approach what a fee-for-service lab might charge (we’ve found $79 per test to be the going rate for testing with a fee-for-service lab with the same instrumentation – and, for example, when I test a dish I normally test at least three spots – so a fee-for-service business that does this might charge close to $240 to test multiple components of one item.) This work continues to be a collaboration with you (Lead Safe Mama readers) and the funds you pay support the work we do (as a business as a whole – including things like legal fees!) but it should not be considered a fee-for-service type of thing.
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IF you need an official lab report for an item this is not the opportunity for you. This is collaborative advocacy. Results are shared in an article format on the Lead Safe Mama website. We are not a lab, not affiliated with a lab and will not provide a formal written report (other than the published article) with the test results of your item.
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The new rates are $35 per item for simple items – like a flat dish (with fewer than four components or colors needing testing) with rates TBD for complex items with 4 or more colors or components depending on the item.
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To participate in this opportunity you can choose to send in a box of 4 items for $140 + return postage OR a box of 5 items for $175 + return postage. I am not accepting any boxes with more than 5 items at this time.
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When you pay you will be assigned one of the numbers below and your name will be added to the list next to your number (like Sarah M. or Jane S. – not your full name) and your items will be tested in the order based on your number.
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Once you pay to be added to the list you can share pictures of the items you are considering sending in for testing in the thread here (on this post in the Facebook group) and I will respond if I would like you to send in that item and – if not – I will share with you the link to a similar item on the website so you can see the test results and we can discuss if it makes sense for you to send in that item or a different one.
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Keeping track of names on the list with this post will help me stay organized (so my helpers can also help me track everything too!) AND it will let people know how we are doing in terms of progress towards raising the $5,000 needed for my legal retainer.
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NOTE: please do not purchase items new that need to be returned by a certain date unless I give you express permission to do that. I cannot always guarantee that things will be shipped back by a certain date (but I think this new system will make everything go faster now that I have full-time access to an appropriate instrument for all types of testing!)
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NOTE #2: IF you want a sample from your artificial Christmas tree tested as part of your items you must send that in no later than October 1, 2021 – along with information related to the brand / date of purchase / store purchased, etc. (per the details for Christmas tree testing published on the site).
SO……………………… Please comment on the Facebook post (or send an e-mail) if you are interested in participating in this opportunity / supporting this work in this way and then:
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Make your payment via
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Venmo (@TamaraERubin),
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Zelle (503-702-2708) or
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PayPal (TamaraRubin@mac.com)
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Let me know you made your payment via an email to TamaraRubin@mac.com. The subject line should include “Reserving a spot on the testing schedule” [The subject line note is very important – so I can easily search for these emails] and you should include a preliminary list of the items you think you would like me to test (along with at least one photo of each of those items if possible).
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I will respond with an email confirming your number on the list (the list image with this article) and I will update the graphic here with your name and the total raised so far / amount left to raise.
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IF you don’t yet know what you are going to send in but want to reserve a spot – just let me know this in your email – and then use the comment thread on this article to share images of items you might want to have tested (to see if they already have been tested or would be a good candidate for testing).
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Check out the link here for a list of items that you may want to have tested with XRF technology: https://tamararubin.com/2017/11/goods/
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Once you know what you are sending PLEASE send a follow-up email when it has been shipped so I know to look for the box and so I can plan to have childcare to test your items when they arrive.
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Please (if you can easily) include a return shipping label in the box. If you are not able to do this I will email you with the cost of return shipping and you can send me those $ separately.
IMPORTANT NOTE: To get through this testing efficiently and quickly, the article with your test results may not have a lot of detail beyond just the actual test results. All components are tested multiple times to confirm the results and one full set of test results is shared in the article for each component tested. (Results shared are science-based, accurate, and replicable.) If you have questions about the test results that are not answered elsewhere on the site — let me know and I will update the article addressing your specific questions as soon as possible. Here is the write-up discussing the testing methodologies I use in my work. For the purpose of the testing of items you send in, I always use XRF testing — but sometimes I will also follow up with testing using reactive agent home test kits on a video: https://tamararubin.com/2016/12/ask-tamara-what-do-you-use-to-test-for-lead/
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ONE MORE NOTE: After 2021 the plan is that I am no longer going to be accepting ANY submissions from readers for testing – with rare exceptions (although that plan could change — if my business is able to expand and if I am able to set up a brick-and-mortar location and hire staff to do the testing… which has always been a dream goal of mine). Instead – starting in 2022 – I am going to focus more on directly purchasing both new and vintage items for testing (but with the choices for the items tested still directed by Lead Safe Mama readers – and, when appropriate, the costs of procuring those items also shared among readers interested in test results for a specific item.)
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Phew – that covered a lot of bases! Thanks for reading… I look forward to waking up and seeing how this article landed (if there are enough people interested, this might be a viable way to raise the funds for my current legal retainer!).
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Here’s the link with all the ways to pay or contribute in support of the work including the GoFundMe link and a PayPal button: https://tamararubin.com/2021/07/ways-to-support-the-work-of-lead-safe-mama-llc/
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