Plastic Toys

How old are your child’s toys? Mega Bloks Large Yellow Building Block (c. 1990-2007?): 5,402 ppm Lead (90 is unsafe for kids) + 88 ppm Mercury

December 27, 2020December 28, 2020

Introduction to Tamara Rubin (for those new to this website!) Tamara Rubin lives in Portland, Oregon and is a child health advocate, author, documentary filmmaker, and mother of four sons. Her young men are now 24, 18, 15, and 12. She has won multiple national awards for her Lead-poisoning prevention advocacy work (including two from U.S….

1977 Walt Disney Winnie The Pooh & Tigger Too – read along book: 17 ppm Lead (safe by all standards.)

March 22, 2020March 22, 2020

2 Comments

Posted: Sunday, March 22, 2020 Introduction: Tamara Rubin is an independent advocate for consumer goods safety, and she is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children. She began testing consumer goods for toxicants in 2009 and was the parent-advocate responsible for finding Lead in the popular fidget spinner toys in 2017. She uses high-precision XRF testing (a…

1977 Walt Disney Winnie The Pooh & Tigger Too – read along tape: 495 ppm Lead (90 is unsafe), 35 ppm Arsenic.

March 22, 2020March 22, 2020

Posted: Sunday, March 22, 2020 Introduction: Tamara Rubin is an independent advocate for consumer goods safety, and she is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children. She began testing consumer goods for toxicants in 2009 and was the parent-advocate responsible for finding Lead in the popular fidget spinner toys in 2017. She uses high-precision XRF testing (a…

Dollar Store plastic robot toy (in yellow), made in China: 113 +/- 31 ppm Lead (in the black legs), safe by all standards.

March 22, 2020March 22, 2020

Posted: Sunday, March 22, 2020 Introduction: Tamara Rubin is an independent advocate for consumer goods safety, and she is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children. She began testing consumer goods for toxicants in 2009 and was the parent-advocate responsible for finding Lead in the popular fidget spinner toys in 2017. She uses high-precision XRF testing (a…

Dollar Store plastic robot toy (in red), made in China: 48 ppm Lead (in the black legs), safe by all standards.

March 22, 2020March 22, 2020

2 Comments

Posted: Sunday, March 22, 2020 Introduction: Tamara Rubin is an independent advocate for consumer goods safety, and she is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children. She began testing consumer goods for toxicants in 2009 and was the parent-advocate responsible for finding Lead in the popular fidget spinner toys in 2017. She uses high-precision XRF testing (a…

Dollar Store plastic robot toy (in green), made in China: non-detect for Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Arsenic & Antimony.

March 22, 2020March 22, 2020

2 Comments

Posted: Sunday, March 22, 2020 Introduction: Tamara Rubin is an independent advocate for consumer goods safety, and she is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children. She began testing consumer goods for toxicants in 2009 and was the parent-advocate responsible for finding Lead in the popular fidget spinner toys in 2017. She uses high-precision XRF testing (a…

c. 1989 Flexibear Flexiblocks plastic toy: 1,735 ppm Lead. 90 ppm & up is considered unsafe/illegal in modern toys.

February 24, 2020March 22, 2020

Introduction (for those new to this website): Tamara Rubin is an independent advocate for consumer goods safety. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children. She began testing consumer goods for toxicants in 2009 and was the parent-advocate responsible for finding Lead in the popular fidget spinner toys in 2017. Tamara uses XRF testing (a scientific…

Vintage (1990s?) TYCO plastic building blocks (Duplo-style): Lead-free, Cadmium-free, Arsenic-free!

February 23, 2020February 23, 2020

Green TYCO building block – 30 seconds Copper (Cu): 150 +/- 15 ppm Nickel (Ni): 13 +/- 8 ppm Iron (Fe): 55 +/- 20 ppm Titanium (Ti): 2,167 +/- 295 ppm Continue reading below the image. Red TYCO building block – 30 seconds Barium (Ba): 189 +/- 108 ppm Bromine (Br): 19 +/- 3 ppm Iron…

Vintage (?) “Made In China” Parasaurolophus Plastic Dinosaur: 1,333 ppm Lead (90 is unsafe for kids) + 88 ppm Cadmium

January 31, 2020January 31, 2020

When tested with an XRF instrument the large gray dinosaur pictured here (year of manufacture unknown) had the following readings: Lead (Pb): 1,333 +/- 71 ppm Cadmium (Cd): 88 +/- 13 ppm Barium (Ba): 717 +/- 84 ppm Antimony (Sb): 625 +/- 34 ppm Bromine (Br): 62 +/- 10 ppm Tin (Sn): 127 +/- 23…

2019 light up unicorn bath toy. Negative for Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Arsenic & Antimony in all accessible components.

November 22, 2019

When tested with an XRF instrument this little unicorn bath light up toy (link*) had the following reading: 1) Pink hair of unicorn: Lead (Pb): Non-Detect / Negative Mercury (Hg): Non-Detect / Negative Cadmium (Cd): Non-Detect / Negative Arsenic (As): Non-Detect / Negative Antimony (Sb): Non-Detect / Negative Barium (Ba): 62 +/- 39 ppm Bromine…

2019 light up mermaid bath toy. Negative for Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Arsenic & Antimony in all accessible components.

November 22, 2019November 22, 2019

When tested with an XRF instrument this little mermaid bath light up toy (link*) had the following reading: 1) Pink tail of mermaid Lead (Pb): Non-Detect / Negative Mercury (Hg): Non-Detect / Negative Cadmium (Cd): Non-Detect / Negative Arsenic (As): Non-Detect / Negative Antimony (Sb): Non-Detect / Negative Barium (Ba): 118 +/- 40 ppm Bromine…

Pink Plastic Magic Wand Party Favor: 155 ppm Lead (90 & up is unsafe for kids). Please avoid these and similar toys!

November 13, 2019November 13, 2019

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I have long recommended avoiding toys like this. They fall in line with Mardi Gras beads (you can see test results for some of those here). Inexpensive plastic items with sparkly / iridescent paint more-often-than-not has a least some Lead (although there are a lot of exceptions with brand new toys.) This particular magic…

1986 Dor Mei Toys Spinosaurus: 5,341 ppm Lead. 90 ppm and up is considered illegal and unsafe for toys made today.

August 30, 2019August 30, 2019

The amount of Lead that is considered unsafe and illegal in a modern item manufactured for use by children today is anything 90 ppm or higher in the paint or coating or anything 100 ppm or higher in the substrate. As a result of the high levels of Lead found in this 1986 “Dor Mei”…

Another reason to avoid vintage toys – 1985 Imperial Toys T-Rex: 7,872 ppm Lead. This would be illegal if made today.

August 30, 2019December 26, 2021

4 Comments

The amount of Lead that is considered unsafe and illegal in a modern item manufactured for use by children today is anything 90 ppm or higher in the paint or coating or anything 100 ppm or higher in the substrate. As a result of the high levels of Lead found in this 1985 “Imperial Toys”…

Another reason to avoid vintage toys — toy triceratops: 6,298 ppm Lead. This would be illegal if made today.

August 30, 2019July 13, 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)…

1990 Mirage Studios Playmates Toys Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Figurine: Lead Free, Cadmium Free, Arsenic Free!

May 28, 2019

Every single color of this little Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle figurine was tested and not one of them was positive for anything bad (from the standpoint of XRF detectable metals discoverable in consumer goods mode). This figurine from 1990 was negative / non-detect for the following metals when tested with an XRF instrument: Cadmium Lead…

1988 Mirage Studios Playmates Toys (Made in Macao) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Raphael Figurine: Lead Free

May 28, 2019May 28, 2019

1 Comment

Every single color of this little Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle figurine was tested and not one of them was positive for anything bad (from the standpoint of XRF detectable metals discoverable in consumer goods mode). This figurine from 1988 was negative / non-detect for the following metals when tested with an XRF instrument: Cadmium Lead…

Multi-colored plastic toy frying pan: Non-detect (negative) for Lead, Cadmium, Antimony & Mercury.

May 27, 2019May 27, 2019

When tested with an XRF instrument (for repeated 60-second / 1-minute tests) this plastic toy frying pan had the following set of readings (below): Green Plastic Knob Copper (Cu): 12 +/- 7 ppm Iron (Fe): 99 +/- 17 ppm Titanium (Ti): 883 +/- 203 ppm Orange Plastic Handle Zinc (Zn): 38 +/- 7 ppm Copper…

Larami Toys brachiosaurus toy dinosaur: 2,213 ppm Lead, 2,721 ppm Antimony. This toy would be illegal if made today.

April 18, 2019April 18, 2019

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Scroll down to see additional images, including picture of Dino next to Lego-guy for size! The amount of Lead that is considered unsafe and illegal in a modern item manufactured for use by children today is anything 90 ppm or higher in the paint or coating or anything 100 ppm or higher in the substrate….

1970s Yamaha Recorder: 6,652 ppm Lead (90 is unsafe) 4,737 ppm Cadmium (75 is unsafe) & 1,572 ppm Mercury.

April 6, 2019August 24, 2019

12 Comments

When tested with an XRF instrument this vintage recorder (musical instrument) had the following readings: This is the reading with the XRF analyzer window focused on the gold of the Yamaha logo: Lead (Pb): 6,662+/- 282 ppm Cadmium (Cd): 4,737 +/-192 ppm Mercury (Hg): 1,572 +/- 107 ppm This is the reading of the brown…

Vintage Fisher Price Doll. Please don’t let your kids play with these dolls. 75 ppm Cadmium (& higher) is illegal in Denmark.

March 27, 2019March 28, 2019

9 Comments

The amount of CADMIUM that is considered toxic (and illegal in Denmark!) in newly manufactured items intended for use by children today, is anything 75 ppm Cadmium or more. Here’s a table from a recent (2015) study about toxicants found in vintage plastic toys. If you click on the table it will take you to…

Vintage Fisher Price Doll. Please don’t let your children play with these dolls. 90 ppm Lead is unsafe for kids.

March 27, 2019

4 Comments

The amount of Lead that is considered toxic (and illegal / unsafe) in newly manufactured items intended for use by children today, is anything over 90 ppm Lead in the paint or coating and anything over 100 ppm Lead in the substrate. Here’s a table from a recent (2015) study about toxicants found in vintage…

Vintage Plastic Fisher Price Doll. Please don’t let your children play with these dolls. 90 ppm Lead is unsafe for kids.

March 27, 2019March 27, 2019

9 Comments

The amount of Lead that is considered toxic (and illegal / unsafe) in newly manufactured items intended for use by children today, is anything over 90 ppm Lead in the paint or coating and anything over 100 ppm Lead in the substrate. Here’s a table from a recent (2015) study about toxicants found in vintage…

Discovery Kids 2017 DCL “MerchSource” Magnetic Tile Toys: 18 +/- 2 ppm Arsenic (in the metal hollow rivets.)

March 25, 2019December 28, 2021

2 Comments

Originally published: March 25, 2019 Updated: March 18, 2020 Discovery Toys MagnaTile® knockoffs When tested with an XRF instrument, the metal hollow rivets on these MerchSource MagnaTile® knockoffs (by Discovery Toys / DiscoveryKids) are positive for Arsenic. This is consistent with all magnetic tile toys of this nature that I have tested (all of the…