New limit set on lead in wallets, handbags
Starting this month, two major retailers are enforcing tough new standards for lead in women's handbags and wallets. The move is the result of a lawsuit triggered by tests commissioned last year, by the Center for Environmental Health.
The objective is to find out how much lead is in some handbags, and how much can rub off.
Right now, the only federal standards for lead content, are for children's products which can have no more than 300 parts per million.
High lead levels have long been linked to health and developmental problems in children. Lead is also a concern for pregnant women, or women who plan to have kids.
CEH purchased bags from 100 of the top retailers in the country,including Target, Macy's, Wal-Mart and Kohl's- and took them to an independent lab.
CEH says the found high levels of lead in dozens of purses, handbags, clutches and wallets. The organization says some of the bags they tested, had lead levels as much as 100 times higher than the federal limit for lead in products for kids.
The Problem Solvers decided to conduct our own, non-scientific tests- with the help of the local testing company Essco Safety Check.
President Seth Goldberg brought in a special testing gun called XRF, which measures lead and other toxic metals. We tested random bags and accessories- testing various parts of the item.
Some bags that registered no lead in the body of the purse, showed lead in the straps and handles.
One one bag, the handle tested 898 parts per million, with a margin of error of 28. That's more than twice the lead limit for children. On another bag, the straps registered 627 ppm. One wallet registered 1,414 parts per million lead.
Of the 20 bags and accessories we tested, nine items had no lead while 11 contained varying levels of lead, in most cases enough to cause concern around a small child if they were to suck or chew on parts of the bag, as young children tend to do.
So far, two retailers, H&M and New York & Company, have agreed to enforce tougher standards in the bags they sell and they're helping pay for consumer education about toxic health hazards.
Other retailers tell us they dispute CEH's findings. They're still negotiating over the lawsuit.
All retailers who responded to our calls, tells us their handbags have been checked and are safe and any bags identified in the CEH tests to have excessive lead have long been pulled from the shelves.
The Centers for Environmental Health tells the KOMO Problem Solvers they have continued to purchase and test handbags from independent retailers that were not included in the initial tests, and they continue to find some bags and accessories with levels of lead deemed excessive for young children.
Child safety advocates say the investigation is another reason to monitor young children, and keep purses and other accessories out of their mouths.
For more information:
Consumer Watchdog's Lawsuit Sets First-Ever Legal Ban on Lead in Purses
The objective is to find out how much lead is in some handbags, and how much can rub off.
Right now, the only federal standards for lead content, are for children's products which can have no more than 300 parts per million.
High lead levels have long been linked to health and developmental problems in children. Lead is also a concern for pregnant women, or women who plan to have kids.
CEH purchased bags from 100 of the top retailers in the country,including Target, Macy's, Wal-Mart and Kohl's- and took them to an independent lab.
CEH says the found high levels of lead in dozens of purses, handbags, clutches and wallets. The organization says some of the bags they tested, had lead levels as much as 100 times higher than the federal limit for lead in products for kids.
The Problem Solvers decided to conduct our own, non-scientific tests- with the help of the local testing company Essco Safety Check.
President Seth Goldberg brought in a special testing gun called XRF, which measures lead and other toxic metals. We tested random bags and accessories- testing various parts of the item.
Some bags that registered no lead in the body of the purse, showed lead in the straps and handles.
One one bag, the handle tested 898 parts per million, with a margin of error of 28. That's more than twice the lead limit for children. On another bag, the straps registered 627 ppm. One wallet registered 1,414 parts per million lead.
Of the 20 bags and accessories we tested, nine items had no lead while 11 contained varying levels of lead, in most cases enough to cause concern around a small child if they were to suck or chew on parts of the bag, as young children tend to do.
So far, two retailers, H&M and New York & Company, have agreed to enforce tougher standards in the bags they sell and they're helping pay for consumer education about toxic health hazards.
Other retailers tell us they dispute CEH's findings. They're still negotiating over the lawsuit.
All retailers who responded to our calls, tells us their handbags have been checked and are safe and any bags identified in the CEH tests to have excessive lead have long been pulled from the shelves.
The Centers for Environmental Health tells the KOMO Problem Solvers they have continued to purchase and test handbags from independent retailers that were not included in the initial tests, and they continue to find some bags and accessories with levels of lead deemed excessive for young children.
Child safety advocates say the investigation is another reason to monitor young children, and keep purses and other accessories out of their mouths.
For more information:
Consumer Watchdog's Lawsuit Sets First-Ever Legal Ban on Lead in Purses