Nothing is simple anymore. More and more each year, we are losing control over the quality of our grandchildren’s lives.

I recently read about a serious problem that was mentioned within the feature article about High Tech Trash in the current National Geographic magazine. This grandmother didn’t become aware of the problem that could seriously affect our grandchildren until I read the second to last paragraph. Upon finishing the article, I had three immediate questions: 1) Why hadn’t I heard about this? 2) Why is the problem not mentioned until the short, second to last paragraph of the article? 3) What is being done to prevent it?

What am I angry about? I’m angry about the fact that there is enough lead in an extremely large number of individual inexpensive pieces of jewelry that have the potential to cause illness, brain damage or death. If a child sucks on or swallows a trinket containing lead, it can cause irreversible harm. Not only is the lead found in jewelry, it has also been found in the zipper pulls of boppy (breast feeding) pillows, pencil boxes, and more, not to mention the toys that were recalled in 2007 because of lead in the paint – which I did hear about. Guess where the leaded jewelry pieces are made…yes, you guessed correctly…98% are made in China!

As a grandmother, I am angry because I’ve purchased costume jewelry for my six year old grandchild unknowing of this problem. I’m educated; I listen to the evening news programs just about every night. I’ve been careful to read choking hazard warnings on items before I buy them. I’ve just assumed that toxic materials would be banned in the manufacturing of jewelry that could do harm to our children, or anyone.

As a special education teacher, I am angry because I work with some students who have unexplained difficulties when it comes to learning including hyperactivity, short term memory difficulties, poor fine motor skills, and find it difficult to process more complex thinking skills. There could be a strong possibility that it could be linked to exposure to lead even though it does not show up in blood tests of high school students. In researching this topic, I found an article where one mother explains that the lead is now out of her daughter’s system after 15 years. The problem is that because she is in high school now where deeper thinking skills are required, she is finding it more difficult to process even though she has always earned high grades.

Until the government can get this problem under control, it should be required for all young children to be tested for lead in their blood. One special education source on the internet explains: Even at low doses of exposure, lead can pose a serious threat to neurological development in infants and children and may result in learning disabilities, behavioral problems and hearing loss. The problems caused by lead are irreversible. Within the human body, lead damages the nervous system, circulatory and blood forming system, reproductive system, kidneys, and gastro-intestinal tract. In children, because the brain has not yet fully developed, lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, lowered IQ, anti-social behavior, and adversely impact their development. When a pregnant woman is exposed to lead, it can cross the placenta and harm a developing child.

Apparently, as discussed in the National Geographic article, the source of the lead containing products has increased in this country with the increase of outsourcing the eWaste to poorer populations where the people melt down high tech trash to get the copper and other valuable metals. The melt down releases toxic fumes and waste that seeps into the air, soil, and water…leading to severe health problems for the Chinese population.

The largest vendors of the leaded jewelry are the discount stores that are popping up all over that sell items for one dollar. But it isn’t just those discount stores, it has also been Disney, Nordstroms, Macy’s along with Target, Wal-Mart. Some vendors have voluntarily agreed to be more responsible when ordering stock…others have not. California has passed laws banning such items with more than .06% lead.

In my research, I found more than 60 articles on the web, dating from 2003 through December of 2007. In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in 2003, a child in Oregon swallowed a charm. After several weeks of abdominal pain and illness, the charm was discovered. Blood tests revealed elevated levels of lead. CSPC ordered a recall for the vending machine jewelry. In 2004, the Chicago Sun Times conducted its own test on jewelry found in vending machines. It found 75% of the pieces contained toxic levels of lead. Upon that finding, the CSPC ordered a voluntary recall on millions of pieces of children’s jewelry. In 2006, a four-year old Minnesota boy died after swallowing a charm that had been given free with the purchase of Reebok sneakers. He didn’t die from choking on the charm, he died because it contained a high amount of lead. In a NY Times article dated August 5, 2007, the authors state, “Despite a two-year effort to eliminate the threat of poisonous lead in inexpensive children’s jewelry, hundreds of thousands of tainted items are still being sold across the United States, the federal government has found.” In the last three years, more than 17 million pieces of jewelry categorized as children’s has been recalled. Not surprisingly, the Chinese government doesn’t see the lead filled jewelry a problem.

For four years this important issue has been tossed back and forth between government agencies, manufacturers, and vendors. Why has there been so little, in my opinion, publicity? These pieces of leaded jewelry are too numerous to ignore. Apparently, the funding is low for the CPSC so they don’t have enough investigators to oversee this problem…sounds familiar for the US? Do you know that the US recently came in first in the number of deaths that could have been prevented?

The Sierra Club, an environmental group that has focused on educating the public about lead hazards, has consistently requested the Product Safety Commission to take further action on banning lead in children’s jewelry, instead of simply setting an enforcement standard. The CPSC is finally seriously thinking about it. About time???

One article states that even though products may tested and proven to have a “safe” level (.06%) of lead, the manufacturers may switch to products containing higher levels after the order was finalized…the old “bait and switch” con.

As long as people are willing to buy them, the merchants will sell them. We as consumers need to boycott those companies that do not responsibly test their products for safety. There needs to be a more thorough system in place to regulate the testing and reporting practices. The regulations need to be backed up by financial and criminal penalties. Aren’t our children and grandchildren important enough to enforce a ban, find the funds, to hire and train inspectors, to eliminate the toxic trinkets? Are we afraid of disrupting our relations with China? Where are our government’s priorities?

ConsumerAffairs.com revealed in a recent article that 96% of toys recalled from January through July, 2007 were from China and most of those were trinkets containing lead. They advise consumers to use caution. Common sense tells me: When in doubt, don’t buy it.

The CPSC asks that parents search their children’s toys for metal jewelry and throw it away. Photos of the jewelry and more information on the recall can be obtained from the visting the CPSC website or 1-800-638-2772. The CPSC also has a new policy addressing lead in children’s metal jewelry. (8/07)

Check regulary at the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to keep up to date about new product recalls.

For additional resources, just Google leaded children’s jewelry - you’ll find them.

Posted by Nana on January 9th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
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