#AskTamara: “Are the 3M Lead Check swabs sufficient to test the surfaces of toys? Is it better than nothing?”
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…
Caveman Cups Heavy Duty “Extreme Use” Stainless Steel Pint Cups: #Safe! Non-detect for Lead, Cadmium, Mercury & Arsenic
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,…
Don’t let kids play with vintage Avon pieces. This 1973 Elephant Perfume Pin contains 31,300 ppm Lead (90 is unsafe) and 492 Arsenic.
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,…
Vintage Fisher Price Doll. Please don’t let your kids play with these dolls. 75 ppm Cadmium (& higher) is illegal in Denmark.
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.
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.
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…
Avi’s 8th Grade Science Class Experiment: “How does the elemental composition of glass marbles affect their color?”
Photos by Avi B. Rubin, age 14 (8th grade science, Sellwood Middle School) Below each marble image is the full XRF test result for that particular color (& style) marble. These marbles are all from the manufacturer Marble King. Important points to note: A Niton XL3T XRF instrument was used for this testing. All testing…
March 27, 2019 – Wednesday, 1:52 p.m. I just got a response from Tupperware. Click to read full exchange.
August 2019 Update: Given Tupperware’s limited response since this issue first came up in March of 2019 (see post below), I have started a Change.org petition asking for a more formal proactive response from the company, click here to sign it. The image below includes my original communication and the full response that I got from…
What should I do with my vintage dishes? My dream answer (for some point in the future!) … A giant plastic box.
#AskTamara Question: What should I do with my vintage dishes? I will post a more realistic, practical answer to this question shortly… but here is my dream answer: A giant plexiglass box… I have a lot of dreams and goals for this unusual (and often surprising, sometimes outright shocking) work that I do. One of…
#Stats: Probably going to hit 3,000,000 all time views by midnight tomorrow night! That’s 1,000,000 page views in 12 days.
Thanks everyone for reading my posts and sharing my work. I really appreciate it! [My friends have been saying, “It’s about time!” (that something amazing like this happened!) LOL!] To my new readers: I don’t usually share my stats this often, the past two weeks have just been unprecedented (in terms of the number of…
Discovery Kids 2017 DCL “MerchSource” Magnetic Tile Toys: 18 +/- 2 ppm Arsenic (in the metal hollow rivets.)
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…
Vintage Fisher Price Little People + Why Does Tamara Do This?
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Souvenir mug Airport Purchase from Riyadh Saudi Arabia (of all places!): 21,300 ppm Lead
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,…
Pfaltzgraff Linea Pattern (Made in China) Clear Glass Bowl: Lead-Free, Cadmium-Free, Arsenic-Free, Mercury-Free!
When tested with an XRF instrument this Pfaltzgraff Linea pattern clear glass bowl had the following readings. Barium (Ba): 2,192 +/- 68 ppm Zinc (Zn): 6,990 +/- 176 ppm Iron (Fe): 187 +/- 87 ppm Vanadium (V): 1,170 +/- 67 ppm Titanium (Ti): 1,187 +/- 81 ppm Platinum (Pt): 148 +/- 50 ppm All of…
White Ceramic Bone China Fine Porcelain Dowan Bowl: 35 ppm Lead + 17 ppm Cadmium (safe by all standards).
This product is marketed online and sold as “Lead Free” on Amazon (below is a screenshot from the Amazon listing for this product taken on 3/25/2019 – 7:50 p.m.): When tested with an XRF instrument this white ceramic bowl had the following readings (with a one-minute test in consumer goods mode): Inside food surface of…
Many second hand plastic toys could pose a risk to children’s health, study suggests (Feb 2018)
Date: January 26, 2018 Source: University of Plymouth Summary: Scientists have discovered high concentrations of hazardous elements including antimony, barium, bromine, cadmium, chromium and lead in many second hand plastic toys. Click the image below to read the story in Chemical News. Click the link here to read the linked piece in Science Daily. Click here…
Is your kitty litter Leaded? If it’s Arm & Hammer Super Scoop Fragrance-Free Clumping Litter, it may be! 20 +/- 7 ppm Lead
I have linked images to the brand of kitty litter mentioned in this piece. My linking to them does NOT constitute a recommendation, but has been done so you can see the product “in the wild” on Amazon. I do NOT recommend buying this product under any circumstances. For those new to this website: Tamara Rubin…
Are you a blogger? Want me to test something for you? Here’s how! Let’s collaborate. Read this post for details!
As a “Thank You” to other bloggers who share my posts, I would like to offer the following opportunity: If you share a post from LeadSafeMama.com on your Facebook page and you have more than 2,500 Facebook followers or likes on that page, I invite you to send me something of yours to test at…
Unifix Math Counting Blocks Teaching Aid from Portland Public Schools: 1330 ppm Cadmium [a known carcinogen.]
A school teacher with Portland Public Schools (in Oregon) anonymously gave me these small plastic snap-together UNIFIX math / teaching aid blocks to test. She initially had a concern that they might contain something toxic and unsafe for children primarily because of how they smell. Here’s an Amazon link to see this product in the…
Orange Tupperware Vintage Measuring Cups: 61 ppm Cadmium. Cadmium is a known carcinogen for humans.
To see more Tupperware items I have tested, click here. When using an XRF instrument to test these plastic measuring cups (which are made of solid orange plastic with no painted markings or decorations) they had the following readings: Cadmium (Cd): 61 +/- 7 ppm Barium (Ba): 138 +/- 71 ppm Zinc (Zn): 394 +/-…
White Tupperware Vintage Measuring Cups: Non-detect for Lead, Mercury, Cadmium and Arsenic. [But these have BPA!]
To see more Tupperware items I have tested, click here. When using an XRF instrument to test these plastic measuring cups (which are made of solid white plastic with no painted markings or decorations) they had the following readings: Zinc (Zn): 21 +/- 7 ppm Titanium (Ti): 537 +/- 250 ppm All test results reported…
Vintage Red Plaid Thermos Brand Lunchbox: 58,400 ppm Lead + 6 ppm Mercury (90 ppm Lead is unsafe for kids)
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…
CDC Statement on Lead in Plastics (2019 Website Screenshot)
To see this in a larger format, scroll down or click the image to see it directly on the CDC’s page.
“How much Lead is in my vintage Pyrex?” Here are pictures of each one I’ve tested, with links to test results.
Check back here periodically for updates. Each time I add a new post I will upload a picture to the photo grid below, and link it to the post with the test results. Click any of the images below to see the corresponding XRF test results (listing all metals found) for that exact item pictured….