Your grandmother does not want you poisoning your kids in her memory — chuck grandma’s toxic kitchenware! Vintage / antique metal potato ricer with red Lead-painted handles: >12% Lead!
Friday – April 29, 2022
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This vintage kitchenware tool tested positive for *FOUR* metallic toxicants!
When tested using XRF technology this piece of vintage kitchenware / memorabilia tested positive for LEAD, MERCURY, ANTIMONY, and COBALT.
- While Cobalt is a substance that is known to be poisonous to humans, it is found in most steel / stainless steel — but it appears to be “bound” in the metal when used for stainless steel or similar composite metals one might find used in cookware, so that is really not our biggest concern here at the moment…
- While Antimony is a known carcinogen (added to the official list of carcinogens in December of 2021), the Antimony level (specifics below) is very low, so that’s also not a focus of concern here, either…
- Mercury came in at 396 ppm — and since there is truly no “acceptable” amount for Mercury in cookware, that alone should be enough to give you reason to toss a vintage cookware piece like this.
So even before we report that the red paint on this piece contains 122,100 ppm Lead* (>12% Lead!) this utensil obviously “has issues” – and should not be considered safe for food-use.
*90ppm Lead or higher in the paint, glaze or coating of any newly manufactured / modern item “intended for use by children” is considered unsafe – and is illegal, per Federal regulations.
HOWEVER… cookware and utensils are not covered in the same way by these *new* Federal regulatory standards implemented in 2008 — as they are not considered to be “items intended for use by children” (so even modern cookware can have (& often does have) unsafe levels of Lead in one or more components [brass, contaminated aluminum, enamels, paint on glass components, etc.] — but modern cookware is extremely unlikely to have high-Lead-paint on a metal substrate – like this potato ricer does!)
Most vintage/antique kitchenware items [especially those with red- or cream-colored paint (but not limited to those with red- or cream-colored paint)] are incredibly toxic — and should be retired and never again used for food-use purposes. The problem is, however, that if you simply “retire” a piece like this (and use it for display / do not actually destroy it) there is a chance that someone in a future generation might use it for food uses purposes “for nostalgia’s sake”! This concern – combined with the fact that inexpensive non-toxic replacements are readily available – leads me to the conclusion / recommendation that vintage food-use items like this one should truly be destroyed, so they cannot ever be used – and potentially poison someone – again (yes…I am serious!).
Please scroll down to read the full XRF test results for all components of this item. Here’s some additional reading that might be of interest as well:
- Some choices for Lead-free utensils on the ShopLeadSafeMama site
- A vintage rolling pin (you might recognize) with a similar problem.
- A vintage garlic press that is also concerning.
- A vintage ice cream scoop: another category of utensils that you might also want to avoid.
- Vintage (or modern) manual citrus juicers are also a good category to avoid.
- More vintage kitchenware we have tested and reported on here at LeadSafeMama.com
Reading #1) Red of Handles
60-Second Test
- Lead (Pb): 122,100 +/- 1,000 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Mercury (Hg): 396 +/- 152 ppm
- Bromine (Br): non-detect
- Chromium (Cr); 22,600 +/- 700 ppm
- Manganese (Mn): 3,212 +/- 522 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 784,800 +/- 2,100 ppm
- Cobalt (Co): 10,600 +/- 1,100 ppm
- Copper (Cu): 847 +/- 185 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 289 +/- 101 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 47,900 +/- 1,500 ppm
- Niobium (Nb): 363 +/- 77 ppm
- Molybdenum (Mo): 4,225 +/- 169 ppm
- Tin (Sn): 73 +/- 42 ppm
- Antimony (Sb): 102 +/- 57 ppm
- Platinum (Pt): 2,448 +/- 506 ppm
- No other metals detected in consumer goods mode.
Reading #2) Metal Basket
30-Second Test
- Manganese (Mn): 3,747 +/- 515 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 985,300 +/- 1,900 ppm
- Cobalt (Co): 3,138 +/- 1,475 ppm
- Tin (Sn): 7,562 +/- 229 ppm
- No other metals detected in consumer goods mode.
Reading #3) Metal Lid / Compressor
50-Second Test
- Chromium (Cr): 14,900 +/- 600 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 94,000 +/- 1,000 ppm
- Cobalt (Co): 5,667 +/- 579 ppm
- Nickel (Ni): 727,600 +/- 2,100 ppm
- Copper (Cu): 157,600 +/- 1,400 ppm
- No other metals detected in consumer goods mode.
For those new to this website:
Tamara Rubin is a Federal-award-winning independent advocate for consumer goods safety and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children. Tamara’s sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in August of 2005. 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. Tamara uses XRF testing (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. All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable. Items are tested multiple times, to confirm the test results for each component tested and reported on. Please click through to this link to learn more about the testing methodology used for the test results discussed and reported on this website.
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