If you were too look around wherever you are reading this, there’s likely a Stanley Cup somewhere in the vicinity.
Whether you own it, someone you love owns it, or you’re just out and about and see one, the cup craze has completely taken over. There have been plenty of wild stories about Stanley Cups (specifically the Stanley Quencher) somehow surviving car and house fires, as well as some people taking the pursuit of purchasing these gargantuan drinking vessels a little too far.
One of the newer Stanley Cups, which ran rampant on social media and led to an increased interest and market for them, turned the century old Stanley brand from a $70 million a year company to a $750 million a year company.
Besides the big cups getting on some people’s nerves, the Stanley Cup brand has not had any obstacles impeding its sales growth. That is until a flurry of reports and concerns on the internet led the Stanley company to put out a statement regarding the possibility of dangerous lead being involved in their manufacturing process and trendy products themselves.
In fact, not only is lead used in the vacuum sealing of Stanley Cups, there is actually a small amount of lead in every cup. Though the brand states that the lead included in their product should “rarely” ever come into contact with the cup user, the presence of it alone has plenty of people concerned.
In an effort to get more clarity on the possibility of lead poisoning that could be caused by Stanley Cups, WCNC Charlotte reached out to the Stanley brand and obtained this response:
“Please rest assured that no lead is present on the surface of any Stanley product that comes into contact with you or the contents of your container.
Every Stanley product meets all U.S. regulatory requirements, including California’s Proposition 65, which requires businesses to provide warnings to Californians about heavy metal and chemical exposure.
We seal our vacuum insulated stainless steel products with an industry-standard pellet that includes some lead. The pellet is completely enclosed by a stainless-steel cover, making it inaccessible to customers.”
The main concern for lead exposure happens if the small cap located on the bottom of the cup comes off, and though the company says that is not likely to happen, many customers (especially parents who let their children use the cups) have stated that the “industry standard pellet” can be removed or fall off if fidgeted with, or washed and worn down enough.
Stanley put out another statement to ensure that the potential issues is nothing to be concerned about, and they are working to find an alternative to the lead included in their cups:
“Our engineering and supply chain teams are making progress on innovative, alternative materials for use in the sealing process.”
So at the very least, make sure you keep an eye on your Stanley Cup, if you do happen to own one.
Though the lead should never come in contact with the inner container, if the pellet were to fall off, consumer could be exposed to lead. Exposure to lead and lead poisoning are extremely dangerous, and can result in severe damage to the brain and central nervous system.
