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). Tamara’s work was featured in Consumer Reports Magazine in February of 2023 (March 2023 print edition).
Monday — September 18, 2023
XRF Test Results for Tiny Cloisonné Egg
The standard ball-point pen in the above photo is to show size.
For context, levels of 90 ppm Lead, or higher “in the paint, glaze or coating on an item intended for use by children” is illegal, per the United States Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. This decorative egg would be considered highly illegal if it were expressly sold as a toy or collectible “intended for use by children.” Because it is not expressly sold as a toy or item for use by children, it is 100% LEGAL for it to have over 42% Lead (even though it is obviously an item children would be drawn to, and might want to purchase as a souvenir for their collections).
It was, in fact, my son who spotted this in San Francisco’s Chinatown during a recent trip. He asked me if he could buy it for his miniature collection. At the store, I explained that (based on my experience testing similar-looking items), I was pretty sure it would test possible for unsafe levels of Lead, and likely other metallic toxicants. I added that I would purchase it — with the caveat being that I would test it to determine whether or not it was an exception to the rule, and until I tested it, it would not leave my office. If it was free of heavy metals, he could add it to his collection and if not, he couldn’t! He agreed. He’s a pretty smart kiddo, so (of course) after I tested this (and confirmed the alarming heavy metal content noted below), he readily offered to let me keep this little enamel egg for the Lead Safe Mama Collection of Toxic Junk — a collection I am assembling for an exhibit we are putting together that we expect will be touring science museums as an educational display for children and adults alike in about 24 to 36 months!
Test Result set #1) Cloisonné surface of the egg
- Lead (Pb): 423,300 +/- 43,000 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Mercury (Hg): 322 +/- 169 ppm
- Arsenic (As): non-detect
- Antimony (Sb): 3,468 +/- 389 ppm
- Chromium (Cr): 2,919 +/- 572 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 1,865 +/- 334 ppm
- Cobalt (Co): 2,039 +/- 270 ppm
- Copper (Cu): 238,100 +/- 17,000 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 2,670 +/- 290 ppm
- Bromine (Br): 285 +/- 60 ppm
- Tin (Sn): 3,398 +/- 421 ppm
- Barium (Ba): 7,904 +/- 951 ppm
- Platinum (Pt): 1,655 +/- 634 ppm
- Gold (Au): 1,762 +/- 286 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): 6,188 +/- 807 ppm
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Test Result set #2) Wooden pedestal for the egg
- Lead (Pb): 101 +/- 7 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect
- Arsenic (As): 13 +/- 5 ppm
- Chromium (Cr): 84 +/- 49 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 42 +/- 19 ppm
- Copper (Cu): 18 +/- 9 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 67 +/- 7 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): 9 +/- 4 ppm
- No other metals were detected in consumer goods mode.
Unbelievable oh my goodness. You see a lot of enameled stuff out there, this is a good example.just because an item is small doesn’t make it less deadly.
Cloisonne will always test lead positive; the main body (and the pretty gold outlines) are made of brass. The enamels are also mineral based, so very likely to contain all kinds of bad stuff. I learned the basic technique in my high school jewelry class!