Children’s cups sold on Amazon recalled for unsafe lead levels. What you should know
Cupkin, a manufacturer of double-walled stainless steel cups, announced the recall of two of its products after testing showed unsafe levels of lead could become ingested when the cup was damaged, the company announced.
The 8 ounce and 12 ounce versions of the CUPKIN Double-Walled Stainless Steel Children’s Cups should not be used effective immediately, the company said in a July 20 release.
“After recently receiving feedback from consumer advocates and additional follow-up testing, we discovered that the double walled vacuum 8oz and 12oz cups may pose an unacceptable exposure to lead if the cup bottoms are mistreated,” the company said in the release.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said the cups included in the recall were “improperly manufactured,” according to a July 20 release.
The company said it had the cups tested by multiple CPSC-accredited labs and found no indication of lead in its cups, but explained that when the bottom of the cup becomes damaged, there can be lead exposure on the outer layer of the cup.
“Liquids in the cup are not exposed to lead due to the double walled construction of our cups,” the company said.
The cups, which are primarily sold on Amazon, have since been removed from the site.
The company first garnered attention by mom groups when a business owner and content creator, Lead Safe Mama, tested the Cupkin children’s cups for lead in January.
Lead Safe Mama found there were “unsafe and illegal levels of lead” on the sealing dot on the outside bottom of the cup when the coating started to become worn or damaged, she wrote in a blog post.
The company’s owner, Max, responded to the accusations with a video, in which he says the dimple on the bottom of the cup is an open hole that is filled with melted glass and covered with the grit coating, allowing a vacuum to be created between the two layers of stainless steel.
The overseas manufacturer of the cups confirmed to the owner that the glass beads were lead free, he says in the video, before the company had the cups tested in the United States.
It is that glass seal, the company said, that tested positive for lead, according to the release.
“Learning that our manufacturing partner and not 1, but 2 CPSC-accredited labs let us down is a heavy set back both financially and emotionally,” the company said in the release.
All cups purchased either on Amazon or from the company’s website from January 2018 to March 2023 are eligible for a refund through the company. Refunds will not be offered from Amazon.
“We are going to be as transparent and proactive as possible to resolve this ASAP,” the company said in the release. “We will take this opportunity to completely redesign our cups to make them even better.”
Cups may have been purchased in 12 different color combinations, including blue and green, pink and purple, blue and gray, peach and teal, black and white, coral and yellow, green and pink, polignac and potpourri, brown and peach, rust and salmon, aqua and periwinkle and cobalt and mint, according to the CPSC.
Lead poisoning and long-term exposure can cause damage to a child’s brain and nervous system leading to learning, behavioral and speech problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This story was originally published July 20, 2023 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Children’s cups sold on Amazon recalled for unsafe lead levels. What you should know."
