2023 NYC Subway PSA Campaign: Green Sprouts iPlay Sippy Cup (Glass & Plastic)

For those new to the Lead Safe Mama 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 four sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005).

Tamara owns and runs Lead Safe Mama, LLC — a unique community collaborative woman-owned small business for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety.
Since July of 2022, the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC has been responsible for five product recalls (FDA and CPSC).
All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable.
Please check out our press page to see some of the amazing coverage of our work so far this year!

If you now own or previously owned this product – per the description details noted below, purchased through 2018 [or purchased later than 2018 – and independently tested and found to be positive for Lead in the paint on the glass component] — please take a moment to file a Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) violation report, using this simple online form – link here.

Please read the full details below about which specific versions of this product are impacted before submitting your report.
Products impacted may also include versions of this product purchased by consumers after 2018 – if the product was purchased by a reseller in 2018 or before and sold to a customer at a later date.
In the case of this product, the concern for Lead paint on the glass component does not appear to include currently–manufactured versions of the product [2022/2023].

Home test kits have been demonstrated to work to test for Lead in the paint on this particular product (this home test kit is currently the most reliable option: affiliate link).

More about this specific item

The item in the photograph above is an actual Green Sprouts sippy cup that Lead Safe Mama, LLC acquired and tested for Lead using XRF technology. We hired a professional photographer to photograph this Lead-painted item specifically for our 2023 New York City Subway Public Service Announcement (PSA) Campaign informing the public about the issue of Lead paint on baby bottles.

Date Lead Safe Mama, LLC first published findings: January 30, 2017 (link to letter/post).
Year the example in this photograph was purchased: 2018 (California).
Manufacturer: Green Sprouts / iPlay.
How Lead Safe Mama, LLC acquired this item: Donated (new in box) by an impacted family in Pasadena, California.
Issue with this product: Measurement markings on glass components are made of high-Lead paint. This is includes versions of this product with white, green or pink painted markings available for purchase in 2018 and earlier (reference note above for possible exceptions). The level of Lead in the paint on this product is illegal per the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA).
XRF test results: Test results ranged from 3,000 parts per million (ppm) Lead to greater than 5,000 ppm Lead on the painted measurement markings of the glass component of this product, with testing done using XRF instrumentation specifically designed to test for Lead in consumer goods.
- The legal limit (dictated by the CPSIA) for Lead in the paint or coating of any component of items manufactured for use by children (items manufactured after 2008) is 90 ppm Lead.
- 3,000 to 5,000 ppm is far in excess of the 90 ppm legal limit.
Date CPSC informed: July 2018 (link to initial email).
Was product recalled?: No. There has not yet been recall by either the manufacturer or the CPSC.
Reason this product is unsafe: A feature of the product as sold is that it was designed to “grow with baby” (see the sticker on the product in the image). This means that:
1. Absent a recall, many families who bought this product for their baby 4 or 5 years ago are unaware that it is painted with Lead paint, and may still be using it for their older child (or for subsequent children in the home).
2. While younger babies may use the product with the plastic sleeve over the glass insert, dozens of Lead Safe Mama readers have shared with us that it is common for an older child to be given the glass insert to hold and drink from separately (this function is supported and encouraged by the design and marketing materials for this product).
3. The Lead in the paint on these glass bottles can wear off onto the hands of babies and toddlers, and into the kitchen and home environments where they are used. Many Lead Safe Mama readers have reported that their measurement markings have worn off – either partially or fully.
4. It literally takes only a microscopic amount of Lead to poison a child; there is no safe level of Lead exposure for children. This study (link) discusses the general concern for Lead paint on the exterior surfaces of functional (food use) glassware.
Manufacturer Reaction to These Findings: Initially, Green Sprouts/ iPlay seemed to indicate they were going to do a full recall of the product.
- They then decided not to go ahead with that recall.
- They had their attorneys threaten Lead Safe Mama, LLC with legal action, demanding we retract our public statements about the Lead paint on their sippy cups (letter here). We did not retract our – truthful –statements (letter here).
- The manufacturer eventually removed the painted markings from subsequent models of the product (and later also created a version of the product with Lead-free painted markings).
- They never removed the Lead contaminated version from “shelves” in stores (virtually, or at brick-and-mortar locations).
- Green Sprouts/ iPlay also did not (to our knowledge) send out any notice to customers or to vendors (resellers) of their products to alert those who purchased the product (families with young children) that the original versions (sold up through at least 2018) were painted with Lead paint.
- The Lead-painted versions remained on store shelves through at least 2018 — when the example pictured was purchased — and possibly later. As a result, we are still (in 2022/2023) frequently finding the Lead-painted versions of these in use in homes when we do one-on-one home consultations with families.
Additional relevant information about this company: Another product made by Green Sprouts (their insulated stainless steel baby bottle sold through 2022) was recalled by the CPSC in November of 2022 in response to the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC.
- Link to details about this product and recall.
- Link to articles about this brand (including interactions with the manufacturer / owner of the company) on LeadSafeMama.com.

Goal / reason for including this product in this PSA campaign:

Since so many families across the United States are still using the Lead-painted version of this sippy cup in 2023 (even though it may have been purchased 5 years ago or longer), and given the amount of Lead in the paint on the glass component of the cup far exceeds the legal limit for items intended for use by children of 90 ppm Lead, our goal is for the CPSC to finally issue a public recall announcement for this product (including Lead-painted versions of the product sold through at least 2018 – and possibly later, depending on what the CPSC’s investigation reveals about the time-frame in which the Lead-painted products were still being sold).
The CPSC’s website states: “Failure to fully and immediately report this information may lead to substantial civil or criminal penalties. CPSC staff’s advice is ‘when in doubt, report.'” (see image below). Given it appears that Green Sprouts / iPlay did not inform the CPSC of the issue in a timely fashion (immediately upon learning of it) as legally required, nor initiate a recall when this was first brought to their attention — and, perhaps most concerning, given their Lead-painted children’s products were still available for sale to consumers for more than a full year after they were made aware of the issue, we also request that the CPSC fine Green Sprouts / iPlay the maximum civil and criminal penalties allowable by law.
If you own/have owned one of these bottles/sippy cups from the period in question, please submit a report to the CPSC at this link and let the CPSC know that you request they initiate an immediate and formal public recall for these impacted products. Thank you!