CT scans of Stanley’s virus quenching cups confirmed what the company had been saying all along: there was only lead at the bottom of the cup. The lead is covered by a stainless steel cover, which Stanley said makes it “inaccessible to customers.” But ultimately, lead exposure may come down to a matter of luck.
The team is located at Luma Fieldis a hardware manufacturing company that produces CT scanners. Running Stanley’s quenching drum through one of their machines last week. While video of home testing positive for lead (Which expert warns may not be reliable) sparked endless speculation about which parts of the cup contained lead, Lumafield’s CT scan showed that only the bottom of the Stanley quencher contained lead.
The lead identified by Lumafield (identified by a dark red circle on the CT scan) was the lead pellets Stanley used to solder the cups. Stanley’s tumblers have inner and outer walls made of stainless steel, welded together at the edges. Between these walls is vacuum insulation, which minimizes heat transfer and helps keep drinks warm or cold.
Stanley Says it uses lead shot To seal the bottom of the cup with vacuum insulation. The company then covers the lead shot with a stainless steel disk, the same material used for the rest of the glass.
So, what does this CT scan tell us? First, it means Stanley wasn’t lying: the cup tested only had lead at the bottom. But that doesn’t mean Stanley Cup wearers are completely immune to lead exposure, which can cause serious health problems in children and adults.
“[O]CT cross-sections show that the wires are completely shielded and the user is not exposed to the lead at all. If the medallion covering the lead solder is pried off, it may be accessible – but in this case, a replacement cup is covered by Stanley’s warranty. ” Bruner said.
The key word here is a medallion, or a stainless steel disc covered in lead. In other words, while the CT scan clearly showed us the location of the lead in Stanley’s cup, it also showed us that the only thing protecting people from exposure was a small metal disk that could theoretically come off or open.
Chief Security Activist Tamara Rubin told Gizmodo in February She received hundreds of reports of people’s bottom covers falling off after normal use.
“In the past few days alone, I’ve had about 300 people contact me to tell me that the disc on the bottom of their Stanley falls off within a week or a month of regular use,” Rubin said, adding that if people touch the cup lead particles inside and then touching the food, they may be exposed to lead.
Stanley said that the stainless steel cover fell off because “A rare situation.”
Although experts say There are no risks associated with using Stanley cups These are in perfect condition, do you really want to take the risk? There are many lead-free alternative cups, such as Stanley’s main competitor, the Hydro Flask. (for equality, Hydro Flask’s cup uses lead Until it invests in going lead-free. )
“As consumers become increasingly picky about the products they buy, the pressure on companies not to compromise on safety or sustainability will only increase,” Lumafield wrote in the post Experiment about it.
We’re looking at you, Stanley.