I’ve been presented with the opportunity to officially assume ownership of TWO XRF instruments for $2,000. Can you help?
This Spring has been the most amazing time for my advocacy work!… … and now I have the opportunity to own my own instruments! Normally for any XRF testing I do – I rent an instrument. For a handful of my outreach events, I have been able to use a loaned XRF instrument – from…
My short film is one of 10 winners in the first phase of the WIF Curbside Shorts Challenge. Now a jury chooses the top 5!
My short film made it to the final top 10! My documentary short film (Living with children with OCD) is one of the top 10 winners (finalists) chosen from 200 films that were selected to participate in the audience voting phase of the Women In Film Curbside Shorts Challenge. Now we wait for the jury…
I don’t do what I do to instill fear. I do what I do to educate, so YOU can make informed choices for your family.
Published: May 31, 2020 This is an ad-free article. To make a contribution to help us keep our most widely-read articles ad-free, click here. Thank you. Is what I report on this website “fear-mongering?” Yesterday an article was shared with me that mentioned me and my advocacy work. This blog post here, today…
A 2-minute film I created this week is one of 200 shorts chosen for Women In Film’s Curbside Shorts competition!
Living with children with OCD during a pandemic a short film Here’s my (first ever!) documentary short film. Please watch it and then click through (via this link) to vote so it is considered by the contest’s jury when they vote on June 2nd! Thank you. For more info about the competition read below…
2020 | Ad-Free Article | Hair Test | Hair Testing | Heavy Metals Test | Heavy Metals Testing | Keystone Article | Urine Test | Urine Testing
I heard that urine and hair tests for heavy metals (including Lead) were not considered “real” or “useful” results. Why is this?
This is an ad-free article. To make a contribution to help us keep our most widely-read articles ad-free (and to help cover the costs of our work doing independent consumer goods testing), click here. Thank you. For those new to the Lead Safe Mama website: Tamara Rubin is a multiple-federal-award-winning independent advocate for childhood…
2020 | Leaded Door Trim | Leaded Stain | Natural Wood | Natural Wood Finish | Stain | Tamara’s Home | Wood Finish
It’s not just paint! Stain can have Lead too! Interior 1905 door: 987 ppm Lead (90 is unsafe for kids) + 157 ppm Arsenic!
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)…
Glow-in-the-dark Halloween fake spiderwebs, brand unknown: 20 ppm Arsenic (video)
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…
Teavana Petite Fleur Glass Teacup: 11,700 ppm Lead + 488 ppm Cadmium + 1,396 pm Arsenic in the white flowers.
Teavana Petite Fleur Cherry Blossom Double-Walled Glass Teacup (4 oz) In researching this (to figure out what to call it in this post), I was unsurprised to learn that Teavana is owned by Starbucks. Unsurprised because then it makes total sense that these small delicate glass teacups are painted with paint that has high levels…
Squeaky toy “Trump” horse from a vending machine at a highway rest stop in Maine (October 2019): Lead-free
My son got this little squeaky toy horse from a vending machine at a rest stop in Maine as we were headed north to Bar Harbor in October of 2019. He actually got a whole bunch of these toys (maybe 20?) as he repeatedly fed the toy machine with quarters. I have pictures of the…
2019 | 2020 | 2020 Chalk | Art | Art Projects | Art Projects For The Kids | Art Supplies | Art Supply | Chalk | Made In China | Sidewalk Chalk | Urban Infant | Urban Infant Chalk
Urban Infant (UI) Chunky Sidewalk Chalk, “sidewalk not included” (Canada): Lead-free, Cadmium-Free!
Urban Infant (UI) Chunky Sidewalk Chalk This chalk was sent to me by a reader, but without any accompanying note, so I want to thank you for sending it in — whoever you are! 🙂 While the product is “Made in China”, it appears this might a Canadian brand of sidewalk chalk, as I could not…
1960s | 1960s Games | 1960s Toys | Board Game | Candy Land | Milton Bradley | Vintage Board Game | Vintage Candy Land | Vintage Game | Vintage Milton Bradley Game | XRF Testing | XRFTesting
Vintage 1962 Milton Bradley Candy Land game board: 41 ppm Lead. Safe by all modern standards… but…
Vintage Candy Land game board While the total content Lead test results for this vintage Candy Land game board (using high-precision XRF technology) are fairly low (and within the range of what is considered safe by all modern standards even for newly manufactured items intended for use by children), I do have concerns about vintage…
1980s Toys | 1981 | 1981 Colorforms | 2020 | Colorforms | Vintage Plastic | Vintage Plastic Toy | Vintage Red Plastic | Vintage Red Vinyl | Vintage Toys | Vintage Vinyl | Vintage White Plastic | Vintage Yellow Plastic | Vinyl Toys
1981 Colorforms Tummy Ache the Junk Food Game, board with spinner: 29 ppm Lead (safe by all current standards… but…)
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…
Blue cotton pants from The Gap (2020): Lead-free, Antimony-free, Cadmium-free, Arsenic-free 😉
Why did you test your son’s pants, Tamara?! I decided to test my son’s cotton pants from The Gap because I had an interesting discussion recently on social media with one of my readers, who was asserting that all modern fabric had the potential to contain some types of carcinogen or other heavy metal toxicants…
#DollarStore | 2020 | Cristar | Dollar Store | Dollar Tree | Dollar Tree Store | Dollar Tree Wine Glass | Green Glass | Made In Columbia | Wine Glass | Wine Glasses | Wine Goblet
Dollar Store Cristar Mikonos 2019 stemless wine glasses: Lead-free, Cadmium-free, Arsenic-free! Good choice!
Bottom of Cup – 60 seconds Copper (Cu): 1,789 +/- 154 ppm Chromium (Cr): 203 +/- 56 ppm Titanium (Ti): 4,455 +/- 318 ppm Side of Cup – 60 seconds Copper (Cu): 2,216 +/- 205 ppm Chromium (Cr): 258 +/- 107 ppm Titanium (Ti): 428 +/- 103 ppm Indium (In): 27 +/- 15 ppm no…
#Mattress | 2020 | Beautyrest Mattress | Bedding | Bedding with Antimony | Mattress | Mattress with Antimony
2015 Beautyrest Recharge Hybrid Delanco Mattress: 3,283 ppm Antimony (causes cancer in rats) on the sleep surface.
Reading on main fabric of mattress (sleeping surface / cream colored fabric): Barium (Ba): 195 +/- 128 ppm Antimony (Sb): 3,283 +/- 67 ppm Bromine (Br): 7 +/- 3 ppm Iron (Fe): 121 +/- 28 ppm Titanium (Ti): 1,010 +/- 310 ppm As always, please let me know if you have any questions. In the…
#Mattress | 2020 | Beautyrest Mattress | Bedding | Bedding with Antimony | Mattress | Mattress with Antimony
2017 Beautyrest Recharge World Class Bridgewater Firm Mattress: 89 ppm Antimony on the main fabric of the mattress.
Reading on main fabric of mattress (sleeping surface / gray & white): Antimony (Sb): 42 +/- 26 ppm Tin (Sn): 89 +/- 18 ppm Zinc (Zn): 34 +/- 12 ppm Copper (Cu): 31 +/- 19 ppm Iron (Fe): 284 +/- 44 ppm Titanium (Ti): 4,809 +/- 166 ppm Reading on white only area of fabric:…
This is a summary with links to all of my posts about cups for kids (baby cups, sippy cups, etc.) with Lead test results
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) to…
Click to see all the links to pieces I’ve written about silverware & utensils: Spoons, knives, forks, etc. (with XRF test results)
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…
Click to see all the links to pieces I’ve written about Mexican pottery: Bowls, tile, cups, plates (with XRF test results)
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…
This article shares all my Halloween links (decorations, masks, costumes, makeup, & more!) including Lead test results
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…
This is a summary with links to all articles about purses (vintage & newer) with Lead test results on the site
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…
Our eldest son is graduating from Berklee College of Music today! Watch the video!
Here’s the video and links for the “virtual” graduation: Here’s the link to details about Berklee’s graduation commencement concert and ceremony. The pre-recorded commencement video (first video below) will be aired on May 8, 2020 on YouTube at 7:30 p.m. (East Coast Time). There are online events both Friday and Saturday. The virtual ceremony (when…
I could complain, but I really can’t complain. Some of the things I am grateful for in this time of CoViD-19.
First to acknowledge, there’s a lot that’s worthy of complaint: During this Zombie Apocalypse it seems like there is a lot to complain about — and even for an optimist like myself, there is. That said, there is so very much to be thankful for; our family feels like we are incredibly fortunate right now…