Ask Tamara: Q. Can I test my dishes for lead with a home test kit for Lead? A. Sometimes, but not normally. (Click to read more.)
Our current preferred brand for home test kits (to test for Lead in paint) can be found on this link. Additionally, here is a link to a new Lead-testing product that does work on some consumer goods (but not all). Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking on one of…
Spectacular News! HUD lead limits lowered!
This is spectacular. It has been in the works for something 9 years! (Really much longer since the original research was done!)Â Kudos to the National Center for Healthy Housing for their hard work! From Jonathan Wilson, National Center for Healthy Housing Date: Feb 1, 2017 5:00 PM Subject: HUD OLHCHH lowers dust lead levels…
#SaferChoices: Ice Cream Scoops
Today I am posting images of the various ice cream scoops I have tested with an XRF instrument that have tested positive for lead. If you have questions about XRF testing, please click here. In the many years that I have been testing consumer goods I have consistently found at least trace lead in most…
#Leaded: Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Scoop…
Baskin Robbins Brand Ice Cream Scoop: 1,040 ppm lead. Tested with an XRF instrument. #XRFTesting If you have an interest in learning more about these posts (likely because you are new to my site!) please check out this post for a start! Thanks for visiting! For #SaferChoices in ice cream scoops for your family, click here.
Would you like some lead (or cadmium or arsenic) with that ice cream?
Vintage Ice Cream Scoop. Metal: 28 ppm lead – considered safe by all standards. Red Plastic Handle: 3,091 ppm cadmium / 26 ppm Arsenic. — Most ice cream scoops I have tested (especially the vintage ones) have tested positive for at least some lead with an XRF. For #SaferChoices in ice cream scoops for your…
#LeadFreeGlass! Random!
No lead! No Mercury ! No arsenic. I’ll ask my friend Sarah where she bought this! #XRFTesting This is one of several posts where I will share very little information and really focus on the photos and the XRF Test results. If you have an interest in learning more about these posts (likely because you are…
2008 White Ceramic Starbucks Coffee Holiday Mug: 11,200 ppm Lead
2008 White Ceramic Starbucks Coffee Holiday Mug: Tested positive for lead with levels as high as 11,200 ppm when tested with an XRF instrument. An item like this will not likely test positive with a LeadCheck swab. You can read more about that here. For context: the amount of lead that is considered toxic in the substrate…
Grandma’s Rubber Grapes, With a Side of Lead!
Rubber Centerpiece FauxGrapes: 704 ppm lead. Did your grandma have these in the middle of her dining room table? Â They were so chewy! I distinctly remember taking them from the centerpiece and chewing them like gum! The current hazard level for items intended for children is 90 ppm lead. #XRFTesting This is one of several…
#LeadedMugs; Dollar Store – #1 Mom!
901 ppm lead. #DollarStore,  Purchased c. 2010. —— The current amount of lead that is considered toxic in an item intended for children is anything over 90 ppm lead. Items intended for adults (including dishware) are generally unregulated for total lead content as detectable with an XRF. For lead-free mug & cup choices click here! …
Older [Pre-2010] Robeez-Style Baby Shoes: 626 ppm Lead. 90 ppm & up is considered illegal & unsafe for kids today.
Originally posted February 2017 Updated November 2019 When tested with an XRF instrument, this older Robeez* baby shoe tested positive for Lead with the following readings: 626 ppm Lead (yellow areas of the shoe) 264 ppm Lead (red areas of this shoe) 40 ppm Lead (brown sole of the shoe) – – – please continue…
2011 Ceramic Lined Stainless Steel Starbucks Travel Mug: 63,549 ppm Lead. Context – 90 ppm is unsafe in kids’ items!
Starbucks 2011 Ceramic Lined Travel Mug- (broke in shipping). Inside of mug / white ceramic liner / the part that touches the coffee: 63,549 ppm Lead (ummmm huh!?). The above number is the level of Lead found when testing the mug using XRF technology. To learn more about XRF testing, Click HERE. For context: The…
#Leaded: 2006 White Ceramic Lined Stainless Steel Starbucks Coffee Brand Travel Mug
2006 Starbucks Mug. Made in China. Interior & exterior white glaze: 66 ppm lead. Logo (words): 1,122 ppm lead & 266 ppm arsenic.  If you have an interest in learning more about these posts (likely because you are new to my site!) please check out this post and this post for a start! Thanks for visiting! For lead-free mug & cup choices…
#LeadedMugs: Starbucks White Mug, 2016
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…
Starbucks Coffee Recycled Glass Tumbler: 1,732 ppm Lead [For context: 100 ppm Lead is considered unsafe in toys.]
The Starbucks Coffee Brand slightly green tinted tumbler / glass pictured here had the following readings when tested with an XRF instrument: Lead (Pb): 1,732 +/- 96 ppm Mercury (Hg): Negative/Non-Detect (ND) Arsenic (As): Negative/Non-Detect (ND) Cadmium (Cd): Negative/Non-Detect (ND) The amount of lead that is considered toxic in the substrate of an item manufactured…
My friend invited me to a testing party—what the heck is a “testing party?”
Question: Tamara, my friend invited me to a testing party. What the heck is a testing party and why was I invited? Answer: Your friend probably likes you a lot! She is likely an environmentally conscious person with a concern for your health and well-being and a concern for the health and well-being of…
#AskTamara: Q. Does my child’s trumpet mouthpiece have unsafe levels of lead? A. “Yes, most do.” Click the image to learn more.
#AskTamara – Question: Does my child’s trumpet mouthpiece contain unsafe levels of lead? – Answer: In most cases, yes. – Please continue reading below for more information. Leaded Trumpet Mouthpieces. Only one of the mouthpieces pictured here has no lead. – Trumpet mouthpieces (and mouthpieces on any brass instruments for that matter) are not regulated…
XRFTesting: Instant Pot (Video)
We tested the Instant Pot today in a Facebook Live video! (Tested it for lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic – etc., – using an XRF Analyzer) Watch the video to see the testing results. Click the Facebook button on the video to share it from Facebook. Click the image below to check out Instant Pots on…
A Computer for Tamara
Many of my followers, friends and fans have asked me how they can help and what I need during this time of transition so that I can continue my advocacy work. As a result of my recent professional transitions I don’t currently own a laptop, nor have one to use (unless I borrow my husbands…
Transitions
Many of you know that I am in a bit of professional transition, starting over – rebranding – while also planning on finishing my documentary film on lead poisoning later this year. Things are generally going well and picked up after I pulled myself out of a funk in December. I jokingly said to friends…
KitchenAid Slow Cooker Black Ceramic Liner (Glazed Surface): 386 ppm Lead (90 is unsafe in items for kids)
KitchenAid — 386 ppm Lead (slow cooker). 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…
LEAD FREE: KitchenAid Balloon Whisk, c. 2007/2008
2007/2008 KitchenAid balloon whisk attachment: No lead – no mercury – no cadmium – no arsenic. No rhyme or reason that I can see – as to why most have tested positive and this one example has tested negative! #XRFTesting
My Personal KitchenAid Mixer
KitchenAid Mixer Blade & Dough Hook: Between 600 – 800 ppm lead!!! This is MY KitchenAid – from my wedding to my ex-husband in 1994. I had tested the blue part before and it was negative and before testing the blades from my friends’ mixers it NEVER occurred to ME to test my own blades (doh!) –…
White enamel coated cast aluminum KitchenAid mixer blade c. 2014: 333 ppm Lead. 90 ppm is unsafe for kids. (This is 100% not illegal.)
This post was originally written on January 18, 2017 Updated: February 13, 2021 Sign the Petition: Link c. 2014 KitchenAid: 333 ppm lead. The level of lead that is considered unsafe for an item intended for use by children is 90 ppm lead (or more) in the paint, glaze or coating OR 100 ppm Lead…
KitchenAid Brand Paddle Attachment for Upright Counter-Top Stand Mixer, purchased new c. 2006: 644 ppm Lead
When tested with an XRF instrument this KitchenAid stand mixer paddle attachment (purchased new, circa 2006) was positive for 644 ppm Lead. It is important to note that this is NOT the new (2018) stainless steel paddle, this is the “burnished” finish version of the paddle. I have not yet tested the new stainless…