Lead hazards in consumer products aren’t limited to the millions of toys recalled so far this year, according to test results and a four-month investigation published in the December issue of Consumer Reports magazine.
Consumer Reports lab tests detected lead at widely varying levels in samples of dishware, jewelry, glue stick caps, vinyl backpacks, children’s ceramic tea sets, and other toys and items not on any federal recall list.
Additionally, the independent, nonprofit, testing organization found samples of a Fisher-Price blood pressure cuff that is part of a toy medical kit that had surface lead in worrisome amounts. Consumer Reports advises parents to remove this toy from use.
The Consumer Reports investigation also notes that for children, recent studies suggest development problems can occur at blood lead levels below what the government now considers elevated. And recent studies indicate that for older Americans, a portion of memory loss and other neurocognitive problems associated with “normal” aging might be linked to lifetime doses of lead.
Also, according to a recent poll by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, 89 percent of consumers are aware of Government recalls on toys containing lead. Among those aware of the recalls, 36 percent of consumers say they will be buying fewer toys this holiday season and 70 percent say they will be checking product labels. According to the poll, 30 percent do not intend to buy Chinese toys at all. In addition to blaming the toy manufacturers (84%), consumers also hold accountable the U.S. government or regulators (62%), the Chinese Government (57%) and toy retailers (38%).
Consumer Reports Test Findings
Consumer Reports screened products from stores and consumers’ homes in the New York metropolitan area using home lead testing kits and an x-ray fluorescence analyzer. Testers focused on products made with materials more likely to contain lead, such as brightly painted items, on which lead is often used as an inexpensive pigment. Special attention was paid to children’s products.
Items that screened positive underwent further testing in Consumer Reports labs and in an outside lab to measure total lead – the amount on the surface as well as embedded.
Consumer Reports tests found high total lead levels in three new samples of a red toy blood pressure cuff from classic Fisher-Price Medical Kits purchased in the New York area and three samples from the homes of employees of Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports. Tests indicated the highest concentration of total lead, more than 10,000 parts per million, in a cuff that a child had regularly played with for the past two years. Consumers Union, nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, alerted Fisher-Price and asked the Consumer Products Safety Commission to investigate this product based on safety concerns.
Other plastic children’s products Consumer Reports tested had high levels of total lead content, although tests indicated that negligible amounts would be accessible to children through touching or mouthing new items. Those products included orange caps from seven Elmer’s Glue Sticks with designs from “Dora the Explorer,” “Go, Diego, Go!” and “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and three Jordan Kids’ backpacks shaped like ducks.
Consumer Reports notes that there is no federal standard for lead in plastics, but the amount of lead detected in the glue stick caps was more than three times the 600 parts per million allowable for paint in the U.S. Consumers who own any of those items are advised to remove them from use.
Additionally, Consumer Reports notes that experience with lead-tainted vinyl miniblinds in recent years suggests that exposure to sunlight and heat can cause some plastic items to release embedded lead over time. It’s not known how the products Consumer Reports tested will hold up over time.
Home Lead-Testing Kits
Consumer Reports recently tested five home lead-testing kits and concluded that three of the five kits tested were useful though limited screening tools for consumers concerned about lead levels in the products in their homes.
CR found that three of the five lead test kits, Homax Lead Check, Lead Check Household Lead Test Kit and Lead Inspector, detected surface or accessible lead but don’t detect lead embedded below the surface. Consumer Reports advises parents that if an item tests positive for lead it should be removed from use. To ascertain exact lead levels, items must be screened professionally.