Get the lead out!

As part of your back-to-school shopping this year, consider picking up a new lunchbox for each of your lunch toters. In case you missed it last year, some children's lunchbox manufacturers thought it was a great idea to coat the inside lining of those soft vinyl lunch boxes with 90 times the legal limit for lead in paint for children's products. Lunchboxes sport characters such as Tweety Bird and Superman, and could be bought in places including Walgreens and Toys "R" Us.

Although regulatory agencies like the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) have failed to take any action, some advocacy groups and twitchy folks like me have argued that our children cannot be knowingly exposed to any amount of "safe" lead, especially not on the insides of lunchboxes!

Good news: Many lunch box manufacturers, after being sued, are "voluntarily" removing the lead tainted lining from their materials.

Bad news: We can't just keep our kids from eating old paint chips and expect them to be lead-free.

Other tinfoil hat worthy appearances of dangerous and even deadly lead in children's products lately:

In a Reebok jewelry charm

In candy