More about lead in lunchboxes

I first reported about lead in soft vinyl lunchboxes more than a year ago. (The linked post is a moved copy of the original from late last summer.)

Now, based on an Freedom of Information Act request by the Associated Press (yes, because we apparently need to rely on a private news agency to protect our children by suing for information), we are finding out that the Children Please Suck Contaminants Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) manipulated their results and testing methods in order to produce results that showed lead in non-hazardous levels.

Their initially testing showed much higher levels of lead, some way above safety levels. Even the FDA blanched at their original results and decided to send a warning to the manufacturers.

If you would like to check your child's lunchbox, order a lead test kit today. Or, throw it out and go with a cloth bag.

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