Remember our project of citizen science last year where everyone was swabbing their mugs and sending me the photos? Well, this awesomeness is taking things a step further: citizen science with XRF. A concerned grandparent who also uses XRF in their work sent me these XRF results from their grandchild’s mugs. The first mug pictured was one of those submitted last year.
So what do we have here… 3 years of paw patrol Easter mugs, and a whole lotta lead (279,000 ppm on last year’s mug and 419,000 ppm on the 2020 mug). I’ve also been sent a photo of an Easter mug with Disney princesses from several years ago that swabbed positive.
Let’s review what we found out last year…
– NZ standards for lead in ceramics only apply to the inside of the mug
– The exterior where your mouth touches has no limits on it
– Kids’ products receive no special treatment
– A negative swab doesn’t mean there’s not lead present, it just means it’s not being released in high enough amounts for the swab to detect
– Repeat cycles through the dishwasher degrade ceramic glaze and can cause lead to be released over time
– These mugs would be illegal in North America, possibly in the EU.
In summary, this is unconscionable. Kids’ products, especially products that go in our children’s mouths and touch our children’s food, should not have lead in them!