Introduction (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, her sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005. Since 2009 Tamara has been using 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. Tamara’s work was featured in Consumer Reports Magazine in February of 2023.
Published October 19, 2022 — Wednesday
XRF test results for the darts pictured
Note: I was super surprised to learn the plastic on these darts was NEGATIVE for all of the toxic heavy metals that we normally look for (Lead, Cadmium, Antimony, Mercury, and Arsenic)! Unfortunately, that did not carry through to the metal tip component (the yellow brass) of the darts.
Reading #1) Yellow Plastic
60-second reading
- Lead (Pb): non-detect
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Tin (Sn): non-detect
- Arsenic (As): non-detect
- Selenium (Se): non-detect
- Barium (Ba): non-detect
- Chromium (Cr): non-detect
- Antimony (Sb): non-detect
- Zinc (Zn): 46 +/- 6 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 1,053 +/- 254 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 62 +/- 20 ppm
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Reading #2) Red Plastic
60-second reading
- Lead (Pb): non-detect
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Tin (Sn): non-detect
- Arsenic (As): non-detect
- Selenium (Se): non-detect
- Barium (Ba): non-detect
- Chromium (Cr): non-detect
- Antimony (Sb): non-detect
- Zinc (Zn): 86 +/- 7 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 1,621 +/- 257 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 57 +/- 20 ppm
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Reading #3) Green Plastic
60-second reading
- Lead (Pb): non-detect
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Tin (Sn): non-detect
- Arsenic (As): non-detect
- Selenium (Se): non-detect
- Barium (Ba): non-detect
- Chromium (Cr): non-detect
- Antimony (Sb): non-detect
- Copper (Cu): 23 +/- 9 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 53 +/- 6 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 836 +/- 243 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 93 +/- 21 ppm
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Reading #4) Blue Plastic
60-second reading
- Lead (Pb): non-detect
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Tin (Sn): non-detect
- Arsenic (As): non-detect
- Selenium (Se): non-detect
- Barium (Ba): non-detect
- Chromium (Cr): non-detect
- Antimony (Sb): non-detect
- Copper (Cu): 319 +/- 15 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 52 +/- 7 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 3,144 +/- 282 ppm
- Bromine (Br): 3 +/- 2 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 79 +/- 21 ppm
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Reading #5) Yellow Brass of Metal Tip
60-second reading
- Lead (Pb): 1,375 +/- 90 ppm
- Mercury (Hg): 470 +/- 81 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Tin (Sn): 191 +/- 24 ppm
- Arsenic (As): 111 +/- 64 ppm
- Selenium (Se): 1,878 +/- 73 ppm
- Barium (Ba): non-detect
- Chromium (Cr): non-detect
- Antimony (Sb): non-detect
- Nickel (Ni): 31 +/- 15 ppm
- Copper (Cu): 53,100 +/- 1,000 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 37,300 +/- 800 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 360 +/- 33 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): 78 +/- 29 ppm
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
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