Published: Friday — August 4, 2023
This bottle was tested at the request of Lead Safe Mama readers. It tested non-detect for most of the common metallic toxicants (there were no detectable levels of Lead, Arsenic, Mercury, or Antimony in any of the six glass, plastic, and rubber components tested)! We did find trace (very low) levels of Cadmium in several tests done on the plain (unpainted) areas of the glass of the bottle (this is a common finding for modern glass baby bottles). The implications of these findings are discussed in detail below (in red) in the section of this article with the test results.
Please understand the following important points in reading this and other similar articles here:
- We do not recommend many products.
- If there is an article about a product on this website (any product), readers need to understand that that fact alone should not be misconstrued as implying any sort of endorsement or recommendation of the product — it is simply a write-up of the test results for that product, with a discussion of the implications of those test results, if metallic toxicants (poisonous “heavy metals”) are found.
- We are working on reporting XRF test results for as many baby bottles currently on the market as we have the opportunity to test — this way parents and other caregivers can review the metals profile for each component of every bottle we have tested in order to make informed decisions for their children.
- We hope you will review the various choices along with the test results of those products and make an informed choice of which product(s) to use for your own child. Please do not ask us to make that choice for you.
- If we find unsafe levels of heavy metals in any child feeding product, we will clearly articulate those findings, and we will recommend not using that product (plus, as time permits, we will also report the violation to the Consumer Product Safety Commission).
- We are linking each of these baby bottle testing reports on various bottles to the Lead Safe Mama Baby Bottle Guide, which can be found at this link. (If you need to reference this Baby Bottle Guide in the future, it can also be found in the header menu at the top of every page of the Lead Safe Mama website.)
We began this project as an advocacy initiative after finding more than a dozen newly-manufactured baby bottles and other infant and children’s feeding products (manufactured and sold in 2023 or in the past five years) with unsafe levels of Lead — either in the form of Lead-painted measurement markings and decorations in the exterior paint on the glass, or in the form of other components that are high in Lead (for example the high-Lead “sealing dots” used to create the vacuum seal on many insulated stainless steel products, including insulated stainless steel baby bottles and sippy cups).
Please scroll down to read the full test results for the bottle pictured. There were seven separate components of this bottle (including painted and unpainted glass, each tested separately) and all were tested multiple times to confirm any test results we have reported.
The recommendation of Lead Safe Mama, LLC — across the board, when it comes to baby bottles — is that the best bottle choice from a safety perspective (with respect to avoiding toxic heavy metals in children’s items), is an unpainted, undecorated plain glass bottle paired with a natural rubber nipple (assuming the child does not have an allergy to natural rubber, or any other issue with a natural rubber nipple).
- A second–best choice is a bottle with painted measurement markings or decorations that has been independently tested and has tested negative for toxicants in the paint, with a natural rubber nipple.
- Since a fed baby is best, if your baby is allergic to (or if your child refuses) natural rubber nipples, a third option as a good choice is an unpainted glass baby bottle with a silicone nipple.
- Please do be aware, however, that most silicone baby bottle nipples do test positive for traces of the heavy metal Cadmium — which is a known carcinogen. These trace-Cadmium found in baby bottle nipples to date have been, in all cases, levels that are considered safe by all current standards. Also important and relevant: silicone nipples should be swapped out for new nipples every four to six weeks (or if they start getting cloudy before then).
- If you have to choose between a glass baby bottle where there is trace-Cadmium in the glass (which is common), vs. one where there is trace-Cadmium in the nipple, trace-Cadmium in the glass is less concerning than trace-Cadmium in the nipple. In our experience, natural rubber nipples always test negative for Cadmium.
- Our baby bottle guide details which bottles have tested positive for traces of Cadmium (and in which component).
*Given the testing we have done to date, we have (to date) recommended this brand, this brand, or this brand of glass bottle — and then, if possible, swapping the nipple to a nipple made of natural rubber that fits the bottle you have chosen. Here is one example — and here’s a second example — of many possible natural rubber choices (although we have not confirmed that these work well with the specific bottles mentioned). This Natursutten glass baby bottle has similar test results to one of the bottles we had previously recommended (very low levels of trace Cadmium in the glass but otherwise free of toxicants). Please read the full test results below before choosing this bottle.
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). 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. Tamara’s work was featured in Consumer Reports Magazine in February of 2023 (March 2023 print edition).
*Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking on one of Lead Safe Mama, LLC’s affiliate links we may receive a small percentage of what you spend at no extra cost to you.
FULL XRF Test Results for the Natursutten Bottle Pictured are Below
Here’s a Lead Safe Mama, LLC affiliate link for this bottle.
Reading #1) Unpainted Area of Glass
60-Second Reading
- Lead (Pb): non-detect
- Cadmium (Cd): 9 +/- 6 ppm*
- Chromium (Cr): 994 +/- 350
- Iron (Fe): 471 +/- 129 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 13,600 +/- 400 ppm
- Zirconium (Zr): 1,139 +/- 35 ppm
- Niobium (Nb): 328 +/- 22 ppm
- Barium (Ba): 10,600 +/ 400 ppm
- Platinum (Pt): 169 +/- 71 ppm
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
*Note: We tested the unpainted area of this particular glass bottle in several areas, and tested multiple times to confirm the presence of Cadmium; 50% of the tests were non-detect for Cadmium and 50% were positive (further demonstrating that the Cadmium is a trace contaminant and not — in any way — an added ingredient). This is a negligible amount of Cadmium in glass. With a range from 3 ppm to 15 ppm (which is how you read “9 +/- 6 ppm”), I have no concern for the presence of trace Cadmium in the glass of the bottle (especially at these very low levels); it is likely bound in the glass and non-leaching. The test result set noted above is one full test result set (just one set of readings with a positive trace Cadmium level).
Reading #2) Painted Area of Glass — White Paint
60-Second Reading
- Lead (Pb): non-detect
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Chromium (Cr): 1,128 +/- 337
- Iron (Fe): 461 +/- 126 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 11,900 +/- 300 ppm
- Zirconium (Zr): 1,054 +/- 32 ppm
- Niobium (Nb): 272 +/- 21 ppm
- Barium (Ba): 10,500 +/ 300 ppm
- Platinum (Pt): 234 +/- 68 ppm
- Gold (Au): 127 +/- 69 ppm
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Reading #3) Clear Plastic top cap
60-Second Reading
- Lead (Pb): non-detect
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Iron (Fe): 77 +/- 25 ppm
- Barium (Ba): 209 +/ 129ppm
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Reading #4) White Plastic Nipple Collar
30-Second Reading
- Lead (Pb): non-detect
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Titanium (Ti): 15,500 +/- 700 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 74 +/- 39 ppm
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Reading #5) White Plastic top Disc
60-Second Reading
- Lead (Pb): non-detect
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Titanium (Ti): 15,100 +/- 800 ppm
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Reading #6) Clear Plastic top Disc
60-Second Reading
- Lead (Pb): non-detect
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Reading #7) Natural Rubber Nipple
60-Second Reading
- Lead (Pb): non-detect
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Zinc (Zn): 1,079 +/- 21 ppm
- Bromine (Br): 3 +/- 2 ppm
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Kellie says
What baby bottles have lead free bottles and no Cadium on the bottles and the nipples? I can’t find one either either have one or the other. I have a Avent that are free, but can’t find a nipple that is rubber to fit it
Tamara says
Here’s the Baby Bottle Guide where you can review each of the bottles and their full test results:
https://tamararubin.com/lead-safe-mama-baby-bottle-guide/
Brianna Lopez says
Hello are the other things found like Chromium, Barium, Niobium, ETC are they nothing to be concerned about?