#AskTamara: Are my kids’ crayons toxic? Which brand of crayons is safe? Crayola? Filana? Stockmar? Honey Sticks?

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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 four sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005). Tamara owns and runs Lead Safe Mama,…

Auntie Tammy’s Pet Safe & Kid Safe DIY Ant Bait Traps

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While this is “not lead related” (“NLR” or “NPbR”) it is related to keeping kids (& pets) safe from environmental toxicity. It seems like at some point everybody gets ants (at least in Massachusetts, California and Oregon (the three states where I have spent the most time)! I don’t remember ever having an ant problem when I…

Are your vintage “Little People” toxic? Sesame Street Friends, Vintage (c. 1970s) Fisher Price Little People

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Do you remember these Sesame Street Friends from when you were a child? I do! (From friend’s houses! My mom never got us toys like this! We were so jealous of all of the other kids who had plastic toys!) Click on their names to see how much lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury each of…

#LeadFree: Vintage (c. 1970s) Fisher Price Sesame Street Grover Monster

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Vintage (c. 1970s) Fisher Price Sesame Street Grover Monster: Lead (Pb): ND (non-detect) Cadmium (Cd): ND (non-detect) Mercury (Hg): ND (non-detect) Arsenic (As): ND (non-detect) Please check out the other Sesame Street things I have tested here! Please check out more of the vintage Fisher Price toys I have tested here! Thanks for reading! As always, please…

#Leaded: Vintage (c. 1970s?) Fisher Price Little People Sesame Street Ernie

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Vintage (c. 1970s) Fisher Price Sesame Street Ernie: Red body: Lead (Pb): 30 +/- 13 ppm Cadmium (Cd): 3,153 +/- 65 ppm. Orange head: Lead (Pb): ND (non-detect) Cadmium (Cd): 3,394 +/- 74 ppm. Due to the very high cadmium levels this would not be considered a safe toy for a child by modern standards….

#Leaded: Vintage (c. 1970s?) Fisher Price Little People Sesame Street Bert

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Vintage (c. 1970s?) Fisher Price Sesame Street Bert… Green body: Lead (Pb):  5,015 +/- 103 ppm Arsenic (As): 120 +/- 56 ppm  Cadmium (Cd): ND (non-detect/negative) Mercury (Hg): ND (non-detect/negative) Face: Lead (Pb): ND (non-detect/negative) Cadmium (Cd) 35 +/- 10 ppm Arsenic: ND (non-detect/negative) Mercury (Hg): ND (non-detect/negative) All components non-detect (negative) for Mercury This toy would NOT be…

Vintage (1970s?) Sesame Street Fisher Price Little People Doll – Susan: 28 ppm Lead (Lead-safe by all modern standards)

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When tested with an XRF instrument (in consumer goods mode) this vintage Fisher Price Sesame Street Susan doll had the following reading for Lead… Hair: 28 +/- 6 ppm. This amount of lead is considered safe by all standards. All other components of this doll were non-detect for Cadmium, Lead, Arsenic & Mercury. This is…

Bauer Vintage Celadon Pottery, Los Angeles: 210,800 ppm Lead (21%!). Context: 90 ppm is unsafe for kids.

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This is a set of Bauer Vintage Celadon Pottery, Made In Los Angeles and purchased at an antique store in Portland, Oregon in 2017. When tested with an XRF instrument each of the pieces tested positive for the elements at the levels shown below. Note: the lead levels below are VERY HIGH, and I would…

Vintage (c. 1938-1960) Ceramic Harlequin by Homer Laughlin Co. Fiesta Plate: 287,600 ppm Lead [90 ppm is unsafe].

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This little yellow plate was purchased at an antique store in Oregon in 2018. While there is not a maker’s mark on the back of the dish, the store owner had researched the plate and came up with this description: Vintage Yellow Ceramic Harlequin by Homer Laughlin Co. Fiesta Plate, c. 1938-1960 When tested with an…

My sons, AJ (age16) & Avi (age 13) performing Tom Lehrer’s The Elements Song

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Originally posted July 28, 2018. [Watch the fun 90-second video below!] – My kiddo is 16 today! He’s headed 3,000 miles away to Tufts on Tuesday for an internship with Tufts Biomedical Engineering Silk Lab (where they are pioneering medical and other breakthroughs applications using the building blocks of natural silk proteins!) The director of…

Ceramcor Xtrema “Metals-Free” Saucepan Positive For Lead, Cadmium, Cobalt, Iron, Nickel, Chromium and other metals when tested with an XRF instrument.

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In August of 2018 I tested yet another Ceramcor Xtrema “Lead-Free” pan that ended up being positive for lead.This pan was purchased direct from the company, c. November of 2016. These pans are advertised and promoted as being metals-free, and specifically as being lead-free — yet when they are tested with an XRF instrument the coatings have…

#LeadSafeMama Financial Update, July 2018

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Since you all are directly responsible for helping me earn $ to cover the costs of my advocacy work (and hopefully eventually this will turn into enough to make a living so I can actually AFFORD to continue do this full time!) I wanted to share with you periodic updates on what you are helping…

Miracle Rice Cooker c. 2009, Made in China: 5,484 ppm Lead, plus Cadmium and Antimony!

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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…

#AskTamara: Q. Does my Instant Pot have Lead? A. Yes, some. Here are the test results for a 6-quart Instant Pot purchased on Amazon.

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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…

#SiteStats: July 30, 2018 Update, Lead Safe Mama

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Periodically I like to share my #SiteStats, more for me than for anyone else (so I can look back a year from now to see where things were and how things have changed!) It’s a fun way to keep track of things and measure the impact that my work might be making in the world….

Email To CPSC Today (My Response), Lead In Baby Bottles – July 30, 2018

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Below is the July 30, 2018 response I sent to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regarding the issue of lead in Baby Bottles. I will be posting all e-mails in this exchange here on my blog so my readers can follow the progress of the situation. As always, Thank you for reading & please…

Lead Safe Mama’s Amazon Store! Lead-free things I recommend or use in my home

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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 four sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005). Tamara owns and runs Lead…

#Leaded: Russian Khokhloma Wooden Decorated Spoon, 1985

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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…

Amco Houseworks Enameled Aluminum Handheld Lemon Squeezer: 181 ppm Lead

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This handheld citrus juicer from Amco Houseworks was positive for Lead (Pb) at 181 +/- 21 ppm when tested with an XRF instrument. This is very typical of these handheld citrus juicers (from all brands). I have tested dozens of them and in my experience, they are always positive for lead [some in the range…