Vintage Shiny Brite (Made in USA or possibly West Germany!) Christmas ornament — blue with white stars: 175,500 ppm Lead (90 ppm & up is unsafe for kids)
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).
XRF test results for the ornament pictured
Note: This ornament came in an original vintage/antique box of Shiny Brite ornaments (see more photos below) but has a plastic cap that says “West Germany.” I don’t know if the cap was changed later because the original cap fell off or if the ornament was in the wrong box (and is — in fact — not a Shiny Brite ornament and not made in the USA). If you have any additional information about this ornament please do comment below.
Reading on the white of the star
30-second reading
- Lead (Pb): 175,500 +/- 6,600 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect
- Bromine (Br): 69 +/- 16 ppm
- Chromium (Cr): 642 +/- 259 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 858 +/- 147 ppm
- Copper (Cu): 92 +/- 43 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 30,700 +/- 1,100 ppm
- Zirconium (Zr): 626 +/- 44 ppm
- Nb: 819 +/- 57 ppm
- Molybdenum (Mo): 898 +/- 80 ppm
- Silver (Ag): 1,915 +/- 117 ppm
- Antimony (Sb): 279 +/- 37 ppm
- Barium (Ba): 14,400 +/- 900 ppm
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
For context:
Anything over 90 ppm Lead is considered illegal (in items manufactured today and intended for use by children). Christmas ornaments are exempt from this regulation; new ornaments are not considered items intended for children’s use, and vintage/ antique ornaments were crafted before the Consumer Product Improvement Act of 2008 passed to protect children from Lead in consumer goods. The Lead found in this ornament is incredibly dangerous because of the LEVEL of Lead (175,000 ppm — far above the 90 ppm limit for children’s items) and because the high level found is in the ornament’s painted coating. This coating is deteriorating and creating dust, which can get into your home (if the ornament is sitting on a tree), but also dust that is easily transferrable to the hands of anyone touching or hanging this ornament. Ornaments like this should not be present in a home with young children. If you have any ornaments like this, you should consider displaying them in a shadow box behind glass (where any dust the ornament gathers is contained and will not impact those residing in the home).
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I have a Christmas tree ornament that is gold with white glitter stars and a plastic cap marked Made in West Germany. This ornament is identical to the blue one pictured in your article except for the color difference. This ornament was in a ziplock bag with several other old ornaments at a resale store. Three of the other ornaments were obviously old but unmarked. Three others in the bag were old glass ball ornaments marked Shiny Brite on the cap and all the caps were metal except for the plastic one marked West Germany. Since they were in a ziplock bag, it’s impossible to know how they were packaged originally but they were all decorated differently except for two of the ones marked Shiny Brite. I have many vintage and/or antique ornaments but none of them have a plastic cap except the one West Germany. I don’t know if any of this information is helpful to you. I’m located in Arkansas and it’s fairly easy to purchase old ornaments at yard sales and resale stores very cheaply. I have stopped buying because I have so many but I will keep an eye out for packaged ornaments to see if there are more around here with various markings in the same box and appear original to that box.
I just found my grandparents gorgeous shiny brites in my mom’s basement. I have a 12 yr old. Is the lead only dangerous if the paint or dust is flaking off?
Is there a danger of inhaling if its just on the tree but not flaking? What if you wear gloves when hanging and just leave on tree for a month? Does that pose a risk? If it’s safe to handle that way, last question is, assuming mine match the lower leveled lead 10ppm and the safe amount is 90ppm does that mean I can relatively safely hang 8 of them?
Maybe I will do the shadowbox but these are really special so if the danger is low, I may put a couple up.
Thank you!!