Many social media users have expressed worry recently on the possibility of lead exposure when drinking from Stanley mugs. Is that accurate, though? This is important to know.
In response to allegations that lead is present in its goods, Stanley has clarified that lead is used during the production process, but that lead must be exposed through product damage, a representative for the company informed TODAY.com in a statement.
According to a Stanley representative, the drinking container giant places a circular stainless steel barrier on the bottom of each quencher that conceals a lead pellet. The product’s vacuum insulation is sealed by the pellet, and access isn’t allowed unless the stainless steel barrier separates, which the representative described as “rarely” but nonetheless conceivable.
The spokeswoman continued, “Our supply chain and engineering teams are making progress on innovative, alternative materials for use in the sealing process.” The corporation added in a separate statement that all of its products adhere to all U.S. regulatory requirements, and it was directed towards Charlotte, North Carolina’s NBC station, WCNC.
Some Stanley customers recently posted on social media that they are testing at-home to see whether any of their Stanley items contain lead. The results of these tests have been inconsistent, while it is unclear which area of the cup is being tested and what kind of lead test is being used.
In order to comprehend why lead exposure is so deadly and how contamination typically happens, TODAY.com met with a number of specialists and government representatives.
Are Lead-filled Stanley Cups?
Yes, Stanley utilizes lead in its manufacturing process for its cups, but they offer a risk of lead exposure only if the lid on the bottom of the tumbler breaks off and exposes the pellet used to seal the cup’s vacuum insulation, a Stanley spokeswoman stated. You can file a claim under the company’s lifetime warranty if this occurs.
Drinking liquid from a Stanley mug poses little to no risk of lead exposure because the liquid inside the container doesn’t come into contact with the pellet. According to specialists, there is a risk if the circular cover slips off and users contact the exposed lead before touching their mouths or noses.
In March 2023, lead poisoning activist Tamara Rubin, also known as Lead Safe Mama, first raised awareness of the lead content in Stanley tumblers. When a customer purchases a product from Rubin’s website, she receives a commission. Among her recommendations are rivals to Stanley.
Since her son, who was 7 months old at the time, was exposed to lead paint dust during a home renovation and suffered from serious, irreversible brain damage, she has been enthusiastic about educating other parents about the risks of lead poisoning. Rubin now opposes the use of lead in any product that is brought into the house. Based on her personal lead testing, she submitted Consumer Reports a report in February that eventually resulted in a product recall. Additionally, she claims that her reports about comparable products to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, resulted in four more recalls.
Rubin said parents often send her items that they fear could contain lead, and she utilizes XRF technology, the same $35,000 spectrometer tool used by the CPSC, to test for the presence of lead and other heavy metals. She claimed to have tested multiple Stanley tumblers that customers had mailed her after the bottom protective coverings came off and discovered lead.
Rubin stated, “I’ve heard from many people who say that for them it has, even though some people say [the] protective disc doesn’t come off easily.” She estimated that the number of those in the latter category was in the hundreds.
She continued by saying that heavy use, frequent washings, and kids’ fidgeting with the area can raise the chance that the covers will come off, based on her personal experience and what other parents have informed her. She mentioned that other customers had informed her they had no idea how the covers came off and had initially been unaware that the cups were broken.
The dangers of poisoning from lead exposure
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences states that lead is a naturally occurring metal that is widely distributed throughout the Earth. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that while lead concentrations in soil are typically less than 50 parts per million, they can reach up to 200 parts per million in certain urban areas.
Lead was previously widely used in toys, gasoline, food, jewelry, cooking utensils, pottery, electronics, batteries, plumbing pipes, paint, and even cosmetics. It is a reasonably affordable, stable, and durable metal that doesn’t rust.
Although lead exposure has decreased thanks to federal and state regulations, lead is still present in some items today. The CDC actually keeps track of product recalls related to lead, ranging from food to cosmetics to medications to children’s apparel.
“The majority of people believe that lead poisoning is a thing of the past, but lead is still present in our environment, frequently at hazardous enough concentrations to cause serious harm,” Jenna Forsyth, a research scientist at Stanford University School of Medicine who specializes in epidemiology and environmental science, said to TODAY.com.
According to the CDC, lead poisoning is most frequently brought on by breathing in lead dust or particles, but it can also happen when someone touches a surface containing lead and then touches their mouth or nose, ingesting traces of the hazardous metal.
“Oatmeal that he had playfully smashed with the bottom of a water bottle where lead was exposed caused lead poisoning in a young child that I worked with,” Rubin added. Stanley did not make the bottle.
Lead can build up in the blood and have serious negative effects on health, such as brain damage and cardiovascular disease. Lead is a “all-systems toxin. There isn’t a system in your body — from your nervous system to your immune system to your reproductive system — that isn’t harmed by it,” according to Ronnie Levin, a 40-year EPA veteran scientist who now teaches at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, as reported by TODAY.com.
According to a study that was published in The Lancet, lead exposure-related cardiovascular disease claimed the lives of more than 5 million adults globally in 2019. Since they are more likely than adults to absorb lead, children are particularly vulnerable.
Paul Allwood, the chief of the lead poisoning prevention and monitoring department at the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health, stated in an email that “even low levels of lead that were once considered safe have been linked to harmful changes in intelligence, behavior, and health.”
Does this imply that I ought to part with my Stanley cup?
There’s no risk associated with having a Stanley cup as long as the lid stays in place, according to Levin. “If that barrier remains intact, you won’t be exposed to any lead and won’t suffer any negative outcomes,” she said.
Furthermore, health problems are rarely the result of a single lead exposure incident. Dr. Vicki Iannotti, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Columbia University and a pediatrician at ColumbiaDoctors in Tarrytown, New York, told TODAY.com that repeated exposure to lead is the most concerning thing.
Rubin is particularly concerned about that type of recurring exposure.
“Things with rubbable dimples are a favorite fidget toy for children, especially babies,” the speaker stated. In the event that a parent allows their child to fidget with a Stanley mug after the bottom cap has fallen off, there is a high likelihood that the youngster will come into contact with microparticulate lead through regular hand-to-mouth movement.
Levin expressed similar worries, saying that “contamination can occur if a child puts the bottom of one of these cups against their mouth or rubs the surface with their fingers and then puts them in their mouth, even though lead poisoning is unlikely to happen from a single instance.”
Forsyth concurred that there is “pretty low” chance of exposure from a single lead contact, but he mentioned certain situations that would raise the risk, such as scraping exposed lead against a rough surface. For instance, “tiny pieces of lead could flake off” if a cup with exposed lead is slid over a counter or moved in and out of a cupholder with harsh edges.
Additionally, according to Forsyth, lead can become more soluble when it comes into touch with anything acidic. That might happen if you peel an orange while drinking from a lead-exposed cup, contact the exposed lead with your fingers after touching the orange, and then touch your mouth or nose. Forsyth stated, “The thing you need to avoid the most is ingesting lead.”
Thus, pay attention to the bottom of your Stanley cup to ensure that the lid stays in its proper place. Additionally, consumers may file a claim under the product’s lifetime guarantee if the cover does break off and reveal the lead-containing seal.
Do other tumblers with insulation include lead?
Lead-containing pellets are not unique to Stanley in the sealing of their insulated mugs. In the statement, a representative for Stanley claimed that the pellet the business uses is “industry standard.” Rubin added that she has tested bottles made by other businesses that produce insulated cups with comparable pellets wrapped in a style like Stanley’s.
As CPSC press secretary Patty Davis told TODAY.com, “it’s important to note that the CPSC monitors products, including insulated tumblers, for violating lead regulations. Recently, the CPSC recalled several children’s products because they had accessible pellets that contained levels that exceeded the federal lead content ban.” Products from PandaEar, Cupkin, Tiblue, Klickpick, and Laoion are a few examples.
Davis urges customers to contact the CPSC at www.saferproducts.gov with any lead-related complaints they may have about any product that is currently available on the market. “Every report is examined and may result in a recall,” the spokesperson stated.
