Target 2020 Artificial Unlit 7.5 Ft. Tall Wonder Shop Virginia Pine Christmas Tree, Purchased in CA, Non-detect for: Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Arsenic & Antimony!

 

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Published: December 17, 2021 — Friday

I am certain this is exciting news for many Lead Safe Mama readers! So many of the modern artificial Christmas trees these days test positive for at least one (if not more) toxic heavy metals of concern. While of course Chlorine is not ideal, either — the Chlorine test result (noted below) is because the object is made of plastic. In this application (the functional use and interaction you might have with an artificial Christmas tree in your home for the holidays), this is not concerning.

The most exciting part is not that this tree is negative for LEAD but that it is also negative for ANTIMONY. Antimony is commonly used as a component of flame retardants when there is a concern for an electrical fire (with almost ALL modern plug-in appliances — like your toaster or your oven). BECAUSE this tree is from Target (a company that actually has an excellent track record and very good policies around toxicants in the consumer goods they sell), AND because this is not a plug-in (pre-lit) tree (with the lighting wires running throughout the tree), it does not have any Antimony.

• Most plug-in trees have Antimony.
• Most modern Christmas light strands have Antimony (some still have Lead).
• Antimony causes cancer in rats and is harmful even at very low levels (for example if inhaled as part of house dust). As a result, avoiding Antimony AND avoiding Lead is the goal with artificial Christmas trees (you can read more about Antimony on this link).

I would say that if you are going to insist on having an artificial Christmas tree in your home, this Wondershop artificial “Virginia Pine” 7-1/2 foot tall unlit tree from Target seems like an excellent choice!

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XRF test results for the artificial Christmas tree pictured above:

Reading #1) Natural branch (frosted)
60-second reading

• Lead (Pb): non-detect
• Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
• Mercury (Hg): non-detect
• Bromine (Br): non-detect
• Chromium (Cr): non-detect
• Iron (Fe): 56 +/- 30 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 22 +/- 12 ppm
• Tin (Sn): 885 +/- 11 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 118 +/- 21 ppm
• Chlorine (Cl): 360,000 ppm
• No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.

Reading #2) Natural branch (frosted) — on metal end (brown)
60-second reading

• Lead (Pb): non-detect
• Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
• Mercury (Hg): non-detect
• Bromine (Br): non-detect
• Chromium (Cr): non-detect
• Iron (Fe): 24,800 +/- 200 ppm
• Tin (Sn): 640 +/- 9 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 146 +/- 16 ppm
• Chlorine (Cl): 360,000 ppm
• No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.

Reading #3) Flat needle branch
60-second reading

• Lead (Pb): non-detect
• Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
• Mercury (Hg): non-detect
• Bromine (Br): non-detect
• Chromium (Cr): non-detect
• Iron (Fe): 1,991 +/- 49 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 40 +/- 9 ppm
• Titanium (Ti): 4,170 +/- 455 ppm
• Tin (Sn): 151 +/- 5 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 84 +/- 13 ppm
• Chlorine (Cl): 360,000 ppm
• No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.

Tests are repeated multiple times (on each component) to confirm the results. Test results reported here on LeadSafeMama.com/ TamaraRubin.com are replicable, science-based, and accurate.

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Some additional reading for those who are interested:

• Other faux Christmas trees I have tested.
• Other Christmas items I have tested.
• Christmas light strand examples I have tested.
• Details about the testing methodology we use to report the results on this website. 
• Please watch this video about how to most efficiently search the site (if you have not yet seen it!). Thank you!

Thank you for reading and for sharing our work. Please let me know if you have any questions; I will do my best to answer your questions personally as soon as I have a moment (which may take a while as I have my hands full with kids most of the time these days!).

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama

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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 2023 (March 2023 print edition).

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This is the above-pictured Christmas tree set up (last year, in 2020) in the home of the owner.