We’ve all got a stash of vintage Tupperware items lurking at the back of our cupboards. Well now one expert has issued a stern warning to consumers, which will make you think twice before using some items again.
Tamara Rubin is an independent advocate for consumer goods safety who’s been testing everyday items for toxicant for a decade, and was responsible for finding lead in fidget spinners when they hit the market in 2017.
Now she’s turned her attention to old Tupperware items, with her studies delivering some alarming results. During a recent test of Tupperware’s yellow vintage measuring cups – using an XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence) instrument – not only did the expert find lead, but she found arsenic as well. In a post on her website on the disturbing results, Tamara – who goes by LeadSafeMama on Instagram – urges everyone to think twice before using the measuring cups.
She writes: “I had heard they could be positive for very high levels of Lead, and have always discouraged people from using them — but had never personally tested any vintage Tupperware cookware items that were positive for toxicants…until…now! While I knew they might have Lead, I was frankly quite surprised to also find Arsenic!”
Tamara adds that she also tested other colours in the Tupperware vintage ranges and found Mercury and Cadmium – click here for those results.
Speaking of the yellow vintage Tupperware measuring cup results, Tamara says that it’s important that people know the risks.
“Of additional concern is that many of these vintage Tupperware pieces have been kept in regular daily service for their 40+ years of life and may have considerable wear and deterioration as a result of decades of heavy regular use,” she says.
Adds Tamara: “While there may not be a single incident of Lead poisoning (or Arsenic poisoning for that matter) that can be traced to a kitchen item like this (because that is a difficult thing to track and study, given how many potential sources of toxicants can be found in our lives – in many things we use every day), with multiple toxicants present, at the levels found here, there is no defensible reason to save items like this and use them for food use purposes.”
To learn even more about Tamara’s test results and her warnings about other vintage Tupperware items, visit her page here.
This story first appeared on New Idea Food
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