Lead-free popsicle molds (what I use with my family)
May 27, 2023 — Saturday
Shared on social media just now
I have used this brand of popsicle mold for my children (Affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3BWRcDB). While all the examples from this brand that I have tested have consistently tested negative for Lead (most modern silicone is Lead-free with few exceptions), silicone from nearly all brands/manufacturers (for all types of silicone products) often tests positive for trace levels of Cadmium.
By trace levels, we mean the levels are so low that they indicate the Cadmium is not an intentionally-added ingredient to the product but is a trace contaminant in one or more of the other ingredients used in manufacturing. This means it is present at levels that are considered very low and safe by all current standards for consumer goods (usually in the 10 to 25 ppm range). Cadmium is a known carcinogen.
Please do not buy off-brand silicone popsicle mold products (or other off-brand silicone products) as many off-brand silicone products do test positive for Lead and/or Cadmium at levels that far exceed safety standards. Here’s one example of an off-brand silicone product with unsafe levels of Cadmium.
I don’t have concerns about toxicant exposure (specifically, Cadmium-exposure) with silicone products from this brand (when used for making popsicles specifically), given:
- how infrequently we (my family — personally) use popsicle molds, and
- that these are typically used for short-term freezing (in our family popsicles generally get gobbled up within 24 hours if they even last that long!) and
- that they are not used for cooking hot foods.
Moreover, my kids tend to use them more often than not with just plain water — to make funny-shaped ice cubes (not with acidic liquids, like juice). We own several different sets from this brand (both the plastic and silicone ones):
1. https://amzn.to/3q66TFE
2. Plastic, not silicone: https://amzn.to/3WBRitG
3. https://amzn.to/3C3N0BK
4. Plastic, not silicone: https://amzn.to/3MBClDm
Here’s the aflink to the full Tovolo store with several other choices: https://amzn.to/42d3IJA
Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking on one of our affiliate links, Lead Safe Mama, LLC may receive a percentage of what you spend at no extra cost to you.
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Hi Tamara,
Are you currently accepting items for testing? I would like to send in one item to be tested (and not returned).
Let me know!
Thank you for all of your dedication.
Yes
Yay! Is there a form I should fill out? Or is reaching out via email easiest?
Details here (thanks for asking!) https://tamararubin.com/2019/08/can-i-send-in-one-of-my-dishes-or-other-items-to-test-for-lead-yes-maybe-but-read-this-first-thanks/
Are any of the Ecozoi or Onyx stainless steel popsicle molds safe?
Also curious about these stainless steel brands. Thank you.
Also curious about Onyx
I bought some stainless steel popsicle molds from Amazon. Any thoughts?
Chasgo Stainless Steel Popsicle Molds, Set of 12 Homemade Matel Popsicle Maker Molds, Stainless Ice Lolly Pop Molds with 150 Bamboo Sticks + 20 Pop Bags + Clean Brush https://a.co/d/cirazYe
Hi Tamara,
Does the Tovolo plastic popsicle mold have trace amounts of cadmium too?
Do you think a Tovolo silicone spatula would be okay for sourdough mixing?
I’ve switched out all my silicone for wood or stainless utensils, but the one area I’m still struggling with is finding a utensil for mixing my sourdough starter. I used to use an Oxo silicone jar scraper before I found your site, but I chucked it.
I need to mix at least twice a day, and wood is just not getting in to the jar corners to properly mix it the way a flexible spatula would. Any ideas?
Thanks so much! Appreciate all your help and hard work. My 5yo is being tested for heavy metals on Monday and I’m alternating wildly between spinning out with guilt, and angrily attacking everything in my house
Onyx Containers is a well-regarded Canadian maker of high quality stainless steel containers for families who want to make popsicles or ice cubes for their children that are without heavy metal toxicants or plastic toxins.
Popsicle molds are a product made specifically for children to eat from and to handle.
Onyx stainless steel popsicle molds have a black (added with paint? etched?) logo included on the _outside_ of every stainless popsicle mold they make as well as on the outside of their ice cube making molds.
The logo is written in a black material which either adheres to the surface or which is possibly somehow etched onto it. It says: “Onyx 18/8”.
Additionally, the small, round silicone gaskets Onyx uses at the top of their stainless steel molds to hold the bamboo popsicle sticks in place are made from brightly colored silicone (orange, green, red, blue…). This component comes into contact with the popsicle contents as those contents expandswith freezing. It comes into contact with our children’s hands and mouths when the popsicle is removed from the freezer and eaten by them.. This material may (or may not?) contain high levels of cadmium. A child handles this small gasket lot while eating their popsicle unless their parent is able to remove it from the stick before handing it to their child. Some children might idly chew on them a little while or after eating their popsicle if it is frozen to the popsicle and has been left on by accident. The gasket will usually be left on if the child gets out their own popsicle and lacks the dexterity, or when a parent gets out a popsicle to remove the container for their child under the tap but forgets to thaw the gasket loose before proceeding to hand the popsicle to their child.
The logo and gaskets on this wonderful product may be (hopefullly) non-detect for toxicant heavy metals. Or one can hope that the levels of lead and cadmium (respectively) involved (if they do test positive for those toxicants) might be low and/or the risk may not be deemed terribly great.
However, it is a repetitively used item for children all their years growing up. Additionally, the Stainless Steel popsicle paddles do stack such that the logo from the back of one comes into contact with the inside of another one during storage. If the black logo _is_ from a type of leaded paint, that lead paint will rub off onto the inside of all the paddles over time, thus making it a potential hazard (depending on the levels of lead in the logo) for children.
If you were able to test this children’s product and the XRF machine did report that toxicants were present, a hunch suggests that Onyx Containers might respond very well to efforts by consumers (ourselves and other families who have been using their children’s products for the last 25 years) as well as to the hard cold facts of the science — and LSM’s report and explanation — to switch to a different non-lead paint method of branding their products, and to a clear, “non-detect for cadmium” silicone seal if relevant.
The colors chosen for the silicone gaskets are a marketing device — used purely to attract children to the product and for the parents buying it for their children. It is in no way necessary that the gaskets be brightly colored for the product to function. I feel certain this company would change to clear silicone free from heavy metal toxicants (cadmium) if they knew they were exposing children to heavy metals.
I wonder have you already at some point tested these children’s food items from ONYX (unpublished archives perhaps)?
You have tested and reported in the past about other items with painted logos (Pyrex glass measuring cups come to mind) that are heavy leaded, and also on ones that are not (black measuring marks made on the inside an Ikea metal pot comes to mind as possibly being one that did not register on the XRF as containing toxicant heavy metals?)
For what it is worth, the black logo on these Onyx children’s products does not seem to have faded or chipped off at all over many years of use in our household. Yet I know so little about the various methods used to place company logos onto Stainless Steel articles for children’s food use.
Thank you for any guidance or opinion you may be able to offer.
And thank you, again and again, from the heart for the important work you are doing for the well being of all. Ever grateful.