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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 sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005).
- Tamara owns and runs Lead Safe Mama, LLC — a community collaborative woman-owned small business for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety.
- Since 2009, Tamara has been using XRF technology (a scientific testing method) using the exact instrumentation employed by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to test consumer goods for toxicants (specifically heavy metals — including Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Antimony, and Arsenic).
- Since July of 2022, the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC has been responsible for 5 product recalls (FDA and CPSC).
- All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable.
- Items that Lead Safe Mama, LLC reports on are tested multiple times to confirm the results published (for each component tested).
- Tamara’s work was featured in Consumer Reports Magazine in February 2023 (March 2023 print edition) and The Guardian in November 2023.
Published: December 17, 2023
1996 Royal Doulton Tennyson Pattern Fine Bone China
XRF test results for the Tennyson pattern dish pictured in this article are below (please scroll down), but just so you don’t miss these, here are some additional articles with more Royal Doulton XRF testing we have reported on:
Each of the items listed below is a link to the article about a particular piece of china tested.
- 1960-1974 Galaxy Pattern, by Royal Doulton
- Angelique Pattern, by Royal Doulton
- 1980 Florinda Pattern, by Royal Doulton
- Cinnamon Pattern Lambeth Stoneware, by Royal Doulton
- Carlyle Pattern, by Royal Doulton
- 1996 Doulton Everyday Jacobean Pattern, by Royal Doulton
- 1980s Romance Collection, by Royal Doulton
- Bunnykins with Raft Design, by Royal Doulton
- Bunnykins with Artist Design, by Royal Doulton
- Bunnykins (1976) with Mailbox Design, by Royal Doulton
- Bunnykins 1988 with Baby Nursery Design, by Royal Doulton
- Bunnykins (1976) with Raft Design, by Royal Doulton
- Bunnykins (1976) Baby Cup with Beach Design, by Royal Doulton
- Bunnykins (1967-1976) with Ring Around The Rosie (& house) Design, by Royal Doulton
As background for each of these articles, I wanted to readers to have the the following context:
- All U.S. Federal Agencies agree that there is no safe level of Lead exposure for human beings.
- There is currently no federal regulatory limit for total Lead content in most consumer goods — UNLESS they are items explicitly “intended for use by children.”
- Officially, dishware and kitchenware are not considered to be “items intended for use by children,” (!) and consequently, there is currently no regulatory limit for total Lead content as detectable by an XRF instrument in these items. (!)
- For context: According to U.S. federal regulations, any item made specifically “for use by children” must not test positive for Lead at levels above 90 ppm Lead in the paint, glaze, or coating, and also must not test positive for Lead at levels above 100 ppm Lead in the substrate (base material).
- The instrumentation used by Lead Safe Mama, LLC is the same instrumentation used by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission to screen consumer goods for toxicants (including Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Antimony, Arsenic, etc.)
- There is no current U.S. federal regulation specifying any total Cadmium-content limit for most consumer goods.
- The two current strictest regulatory standards for Cadmium content are the State of Washington’s regulatory limit (40 ppm, total content), and the Country of Demark total limit (75 ppm total content).
- Any item that tests below 90 ppm Lead in all components is considered (by Lead Safe Mama, LLC) “safe by all standards.”
- Any item that tests below 40 ppm Cadmium in all components is considered (by Lead Safe Mama, LLC) “safe by all standards.”
- We present this information to you (Lead Safe Mama readership and our greater community) so you can make informed decisions about using products you already own or may be evaluating for purchase.
- For greater context about the “WHY” behind what we do here, click here.
- To learn more about sending an item in to Lead Safe Mama, LLC for testing (as part of the collaborative work we do with our community), click here.
- To read more about the testing methodology used by Lead Safe Mama, LLC, click here.
- To read more about Lead Safe Mama, LLC’s business model, click here.
- To make a contribution in support of the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC (or to support our work in other ways), click here.
XRF Test Results for the Royal Doulton Dish Pictured in This Article
Reading #1)
XRF test results for the white center of the food surface of the dish
- Lead (Pb): 21 +/- 14 ppm*
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect
- Arsenic (As): non-detect
- Iron (Fe): 2,529 +/- 278 ppm
- Copper (Cu): 168 +/- 49 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 259 +/- 40 ppm
- Zirconia (Zr): 2,587 +/- 89 ppm
Reading #2)
XRF test results for the red and gold edge of the food surface of the plate
- Lead (Pb): non-detect
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect
- Arsenic (As): non-detect
- Titanium (Ti): 3,722 +/- 1,588 ppm
- Vanadium (V): 10,200 +/- 1,200 ppm
- Chromium (Cr): 5,022 +/- 693 ppm
- Manganese (Mn): 864 +/- 322 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 5,216 +/- 384 ppm
Reading #3) XRF test results for the back logo mark of the plate
- Lead (Pb): 32 +/- 17 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect
- Arsenic (As): non-detect
- Chromium (Cr): 1,403 +/- 556 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 5,053 +/- 430 ppm
- Cobalt (Co): 1,140 +/- 191 ppm
- Copper (Cu): 195 +/- 58 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 362 +/- 53 ppm
Reading #4) XRF test results for the white center of the food surface of the bowl
- Lead (Pb): non-detect
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect
- Arsenic (As): non-detect
- Iron (Fe): 2,335 +/- 259 ppm
- Copper (Cu): 125 +/- 43 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 142 +/- 30 ppm
- Zirconia (Zr): 1,755 +/- 60 ppm
Reading #5) XRF test results for the red and gold edge of the food surface of the bowl
- Lead (Pb): non-detect
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect
- Arsenic (As): non-detect
- Titanium (Ti): 2,778 +/- 1,664 ppm
- Vanadium (V): 8,316 +/- 1,220 ppm
- Chromium (Cr): 5,376 +/- 724 ppm
- Manganese (Mn): 716 +/- 298 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 5,584 +/- 445 ppm
Reading #6) XRF test results for the back logo mark of the bowl
- Lead (Pb): 61 +/- 22 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
- Mercury (Hg): non-detect
- Arsenic (As): non-detect
- Chromium (Cr): 1,322 +/- 607 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 4,965 +/- 467 ppm
- Cobalt (Co): 1,554 +/- 233 ppm
- Copper (Cu): 217 +/- 66 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 297 +/- 53 ppm
*The Lead levels found on this particular dish are safe by all standards.
Owner — Lead Safe Mama, LLC
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