Claim: Stanleys contain led

Question

The source that I found that I used to research this claim seems to be a false story or had questionable content/information. This claim states that a woman threw away her Stanley water bottle after it caused lead poisoning in her three-year-old. The article then states that the woman herself conducted a lead test to confirm that the container contained lead. The source then uses a source from TikTok that included a user posting a video of a cotton swab claiming to prove the presence of lead to provide evidence for this claim. Although the evidence in this source seems askew and unreliable I do believe the purpose of this article is good-intentioned.

Comments

I appreciate your analysis of Stanley's containing lead. I do believe some wordage in your fact-check is askew. For example, you said 'caused' in the sentence "woman threw away her Stanley water bottle after it caused lead poisoning in her three-year-old." Which in the article you provided, isn't the case. In the article, it relayed "one woman claimed, her Stanley cup contained lead, and could potentially cause lead poisoning in her 3-year-old child." A part of the manufacturing process includes the sealing material, which contains some lead. However, that particular area is covered with durable stainless steel. I would say this article adequately describes why there are traces of lead found in Stanley cups, along with their safety measures to make sure customers are healthy and using a reliable product.

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Great reply, Sophia! I agree that the article shows authenticity and mentions there's lead in a Stanley. It's also good that they explain the steps they're taking and the safety measures to make sure it's not harmful.

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I was very interested when I found this claim because I saw this on my Instagram feed today. At first I thought it was just another claim trying to cancel something in trend, but after more research I believe that the claim is true. Stanley spoke to NBC news and said that the manufacturing company uses metal palettes with a small trace of lead. This makes me believe that all these claims are true and there are trace amounts of lead in Stanleys. However, where the lead is in the cup would not give lead poising from drinking in it. The cups are safe to drink in and would not give people lead poisoning.
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/stanley-cups-contain-lead-pose-risk-lead-poisoning-experts-weigh-rcna135584

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Nice find on the article, it did a good job of sourcing to the original text of the manufacturing company saying that there is indeed lead in the product. That link can be found in the article as well as from the official social media page of the Product saying that there is lead in the product, but it has to be damaged first. I do believe this fact check, that there is lead in the product, however, since its in an area that is hard to damage to get to the lead, I think the product is safe to be consumed.

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I agree that the article was being honest about the lead content in the Stanley's. It's nice to see them outlining the precautions and safety measures that they are implementing to ensure that they are safe to use.

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I agree it's nice to see the percautions and saftey measures that they are taking to make sure the product is safe to use

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I think you did a good job finding the original source of the article. I do believe this fact check and that there is lead in the product, but it does say that it has to be damaged before lead poisoning can occur.

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I think you did a great job fact checking and finding the original source. I agree that the overall purpose of the article was published with good intentions.

Answer 1

My investigation looked into the claim that Stanley cups contain lead. This claim is partly true but is misleading and exaggerated. According to Stanley’s official statement, a small amount of lead is used to seal the vacuum insulation at the base of the cup, but it’s covered by stainless steel and not in contact with the drink. Under normal use, the lead is sealed and poses no risk (https://www.stanley1913.com/pages/faq)

A Reuters article confirms that Stanley admitted to using lead in its manufacturing process but emphasized that “no surface or area that touches the consumer or beverage contains lead” (https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/stanley-cups-maker-sued-over-lead-in-tumblers-class-action-proposed-2024-02-02/). Evidence supports that Stanley cups do contain lead, but is only internally.