CNN –
First, Stanley Cups were all over social media because so many people wanted them. Now the oversized cups are back in the spotlight amid fears they may contain lead.
Videos on social media sites like TikTok show people pulling out a lead testing kit and trying it on their Stanley cups and other travel bottles.
It's true: Some brands of travel mugs have some lead sealed in the bottom, including the extremely popular Stanley brand.
According to Stanley cup manufacturer Pacific Market International, lead is used as part of the cup's vacuum insulation and is covered with a stainless steel layer that protects consumers from lead exposure.
“Our manufacturing process currently uses an industry standard pellet to seal the vacuum insulation at the base of our products. “The sealing material contains some lead,” a Stanley spokesman said in an emailed statement. “Once sealed, this area is covered with a durable stainless steel layer, making it inaccessible to consumers.”
“Rest assured that lead is not present on the surface of any Stanley product that comes into contact with the consumer, nor on the contents of the product,” the statement said.
But people on social media are nervous about the dangers of lead exposure. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the toxic metal can cause kidney problems, anemia, reproductive problems and developmental problems. And Stanley Cups are everywhere.
The cups, which come in a rainbow of colors and hold up to 40 ounces of water while still fitting in a car cup holder, have become both a status symbol and a wellness essential for those following the “clean” beauty trend Girl” attributes hydrated, natural skin.
Stanley Cups are in the hands of beauty bloggers, in parents' cars at school pickups, and even on many children's Christmas lists last year. Some parents have reported that their children were bullied by their peers when they came to school with a different brand of mug.
Caution is needed, said Jane Houlihan, research director for Healthy Babies, Bright Futures, an alliance of nonprofits, scientists and donors with the stated goal of reducing babies' exposure to neurotoxic chemicals.
“If the cup remains intact, there is likely no risk of lead exposure to consumers. But if the bottom seal comes off, all bets are off,” Houlihan said.
“Lead is so toxic that you simply can’t take any risks with it,” she said in an email. “If a company has to rely on its product remaining completely intact in order to be safe, that company has a fundamental material safety problem that it is passing on to its customers.”
Should the bottom lid of a Stanley cup actually come loose and expose the seal, which rarely occurs, the cup can be replaced under the lifetime warranty, Stanley said in a statement.
It's not just the Stanley brand that uses lead. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, other brands have been recalled because of their use of the material.
In November, the federal agency announced the recall of about 84,000 Tiblue stainless steel children's cups and 3,600 Klickpick Home children's cup sets sold on Amazon due to “an accessible solder bead containing lead levels above the federal lead level ban.”
According to the CPSC website, approximately 1,600 PandaEar and 200 Laoion stainless steel children's cups sold on Amazon were recalled earlier this month for the same reasons.
And in July last year, about 346,000 stainless steel Cupkin children's cups were recalled by the manufacturer because they contained lead levels above the federal lead level ban of 100 parts per million. (For water, the action level is 15 parts per billion, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.)
“In general, CPSC has strict regulations regarding lead content, particularly for children’s products. “We have issued several recalls due to lead in children’s products,” said CPSC spokesperson Patty Davis.
“And we encourage consumers to let us know if a product poses a safety risk on our website http://www.saferproducts.gov/,” Davis said.
Why should lead be in a drinking cup at all?
“Using lead for soldering is a very old manufacturing practice that was quite common,” said Olga Naidenko, vice president of scientific investigations at the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to protecting dedicated to human health and the environment.”
“Insulated cups have used lead as a solder that seals the vacuum between the inner and outer layers of a cup,” she said via email. “Many manufacturers now indicate that they use alternatives to lead to seal the vacuum in such cups.”
Any potential lead exposure is unacceptable and companies should move to making these products without lead, Naidenko added.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission, there is no safe level of lead for children. “Even low blood lead levels have been shown to impair learning, attention skills, and academic performance,” the CDC said.
Lead “bioaccumulates” in the body, meaning it persists and accumulates over time so that sustained exposure, even at extremely low concentrations, can become toxic. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, children, especially fetuses and infants, are most at risk because even a very small amount of lead exposure is enough to harm a child compared to an adult.
“A dose of lead that would have little impact on an adult can have a significant impact on a child. In children, low-level exposure has been linked to central and peripheral nervous system damage, learning disabilities, short stature, hearing impairment, and impaired blood cell formation and function,” the EPA says on its website.
The primary source of lead exposure in the United States is inhalation of dust or consumption of particles contaminated by paint chips. That's because lead was a common additive in home paint, gasoline and many other materials for years before its toxicity was discovered.
According to experts, between 10 and 20% of our lead exposure comes from contaminated water. For the youngest and weakest, it's even worse: Babies can get between 40 and 60 percent of their lead exposure from drinking formula mixed with contaminated water.
Many experts suggest that parents determine their child's leadership level tested at ages 1 and 2, and possibly more frequently depending on the region of the country. The test can easily be performed by a pediatrician or at a local state, county, or city health department.