#AskTamara

Hershey sued over chocolate containing high levels of Lead & Cadmium!

December 29, 2022January 11, 2023

December 29, 2022 – Thursday Link to article is below (click on the image). “NEW YORK, Dec 29 (Reuters) – Hershey Co (HSY.N) has been sued by a consumer who accused the company of selling dark chocolate that contains harmful levels of lead and cadmium.”

Scene about Lead in chocolate & wine (filmed in February of 2012) from MisLEAD:America’s Secret Epidemic (a documentary.)

December 29, 2022May 9, 2024

1 Comment

December 29, 2022 – Thursday Below is the final scene of the documentary feature film that I directed and produced, MisLEAD: America’s Secret Epidemic about the epidemic of Lead poisoning in America today. This scene is about Lead in Chocolate (& Wine!). The scene was filmed in Boston, Mass in February of 2012 (more than…

My informational graphic responding to the chocolate manufacturers’ misinformation campaign — the Lead-in-chocolate controversy

December 22, 2022July 11, 2023

4 Comments

Introduction (for those new to this website): Tamara Rubin is a federal-award-winning independent advocate for consumer goods safety and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children, her sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005. Since 2009 Tamara has been using XRF testing (a scientific method used by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission)…

The COMPLETE (ridiculous, greenwashed) statement published by HU on their website today (12/22/22). Stand by for my full response.

December 22, 2022December 23, 2022

3 Comments

I copied and pasted this (full text below) from HU’s website. Direct link here. To Our Community December 22, 2022 An Important Message From The Hu Team To our cherished Hu Community, In the past few days, we’ve received messages from a number of you following a recent news story referencing Hu dark chocolate. We’ve…

Last night (just before bed) I learned that my most-significantly-Lead-poisoned child (Avi) has been buying (& eating) HU Dark Chocolate. I’m furious.

December 17, 2022January 9, 2024

8 Comments

I wanted to share the story below as a reminder to folks that we all do our best as parents, and still, things like this slip by. We should never panic. We cannot go back in time; we can only move forward and re-presence ourselves and our family to the science (a continually-evolving dataset) behind…

Here’s the #BS GREENWASHING response that HU Chocolate is sharing with concerned customers. I will publish my response to this shortly.

December 16, 2022October 4, 2023

8 Comments

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…

Some preliminary thoughts on the Consumer Reports “Lead in Chocolate” article published today…

December 15, 2022March 11, 2024

19 Comments

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,…

How many items can you test with an XRF instrument in one hour?

April 17, 2021June 4, 2024

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…

“Lead-Free/ Toxic Metals-Free” Always Pan (From Our Place) tests positive for Lead, Chromium, Titanium, Cobalt & 14 other metals using XRF technology

December 7, 2020December 11, 2023

48 Comments

The product images below are from the manufacturer’s website. This is an ad-free article. We are publishing this article as ad-free to make it easier for you to read. If you would like to support our independent consumer goods testing by contributing (which will also help us keep our more widely-read articles ad-free), click…

#StandBy #TuneIn #AlwaysPan @LeadSafeMama – Later tonight I will be reporting the full XRF test results for the “Our Place” Always Pan in Lavender.

December 7, 2020December 7, 2020

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Monday – December 7, 2020 7:19 p.m. EST Lead Safe Mama readers direct and fund the testing of consumer goods that is reported on this blog. What this sometimes means is that when there is a very popular product making its way around the Internet I usually get a LOT of requests to test that…

#AskTamara: Which dishes are Lead-free? Pioneer Woman? Wedgwood? Franciscan? Blue Willow? Fiestaware? Heath?

December 28, 2019May 15, 2024

209 Comments

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…

What should I do with my Lead-contaminated dishes? To toss or not to toss?

December 28, 2019September 6, 2024

99 Comments

#AskTamara | #DearTamara | Advice

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,…

#AskTamara: Which mugs are Lead-free? How can I tell if my mug has unsafe levels of Lead? Which mugs do you use?

December 28, 2019April 23, 2024

212 Comments

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…

I will not eat mussels again. These shells were positive for 14,000 ppb Cadmium. Food is toxic at levels below 100 ppb.

August 31, 2019November 15, 2023

15 Comments

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…

#AskTamara: Do natural shells have Lead? Are they safe for kids to play with (as far as being non-toxic)?

August 30, 2019March 17, 2020

I get these questions a lot! “Do sea shells have Lead?” “What about Cadmium and Mercury?” “Are they safe for my kids to play with?” My Answer I have tested quite a few shells (of different sizes, from different animals and from different parts of the world) and never found one to have XRF detectable…

#AskTamara: Shellfish can have high Lead (as a food), but do clam shells have an unsafe level of Lead? Are they safe for kids?

August 30, 2019

1 Comment

I get these questions a lot! “Do sea shells have Lead?” “What about Cadmium and Mercury?” “Are they safe for my kids to play with?” My Answer While the food category “shellfish” (like scallops, mussels, clams and shrimp) are notoriously high in Lead, their shells are another matter. For context however, it is important to…

#AskTamara: I know shellfish can have high Lead (as a food), but do scallop shells have an unsafe level of Lead? Are they safe for kids?

August 30, 2019August 30, 2019

I get these questions a lot! “Do sea shells have Lead?” “What about Cadmium and Mercury?” “Are they safe for my kids to play with?” My Answer While the food category “shellfish” (like scallops, mussels and shrimp) are notoriously high in Lead, their shells are another matter. For context however, it is important to know…

#AskTamara: Do sea shells have Lead? Are they safe for my kids to play with? [Spoilers: This one is Lead-free!]

August 30, 2019August 30, 2019

2 Comments

I get these questions a lot! “Do sea shells have Lead?” “What about Cadmium and Mercury?” “Are they safe for my kids to play with?” My Answer I have tested quite a few shells (of different sizes, from different animals and from different parts of the world) and never found one to have XRF detectable…

#AskTamara: Do sea shells have unsafe levels of heavy metals? Are they safe for my kids to play with?

August 30, 2019August 30, 2019

2 Comments

I get these questions a lot! “Do sea shells have Lead?” “What about Cadmium and Mercury?” “Are they safe for my kids to play with?” My Answer I have tested quite a few shells (of different sizes, from different animals and from different parts of the world) and never found one to have XRF detectable…

WHY IS THIS NOT ILLEGAL?! Jervis & George glass sippy cup jar: 6,422 ppm Lead (90 is unsafe for kids) + 88 Cadmium

July 14, 2019October 16, 2023

10 Comments

Introduction (for those new to this website): Tamara Rubin is a multiple-federal-award-winning independent advocate for consumer goods safety and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children (her sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005). Since 2009 Tamara has been using XRF testing — a scientific method used by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety…

#AskTamara: How do I report a Lead Paint violation? [Video by #LeadSafeMama]

June 24, 2019January 5, 2020

8 Comments

Scroll down to see the video (its just about 2 minutes long.) Please see links below for additional helpful information about Lead paint hazards and identifying and reporting violations. Thanks for being here! As always, please let me know if you have any questions! Tamara Rubin #LeadSafeMama Related posts here on Lead Safe Mama’s blog…

XRF test results for small unbranded “Made in USA” 6-1/2 inch cast iron skillet. What is plain cast iron made of exactly?

May 23, 2019January 21, 2023

21 Comments

I am unsure of the brand on this pan. This is a pan from my kitchen that I just grabbed off the rack for this post. I believe we got it at a yard sale, maybe 20 years ago. In addition to the words “Made in USA” and “6-1/2 inch Skillet” there is a “T”…

2018 U.S. “Copper” Penny: 579,100 ppm Zinc & 419,200 ppm Copper. No Lead, No Cadmium, No Mercury, No Arsenic.

April 18, 2019April 19, 2019

3 Comments

Below is the full set of XRF test results for the 2018 U.S. copper penny pictured here: Details: Metals not detected are not listed Tests are done in “Consumer Goods” mode Testing instrument is a Niton XL3T XRF instrument by ThermoFisher Scientific. Both sides of the penny were tested multiple times to confirm the results….

#AskTamara: This one is for the kids! Q. “Hey Mom! What’s a penny made of?”… XRF test results for a 1976 U.S.A. penny

April 13, 2019July 12, 2023

3 Comments

Introduction (for those new to this website): Tamara Rubin is a federal-award-winning independent advocate for consumer goods safety and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children, her sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005. Since 2009 Tamara has been using XRF testing (a scientific method used by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission)…