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The Latest Lead Danger

Trinkets sold in gumball machines may look harmless enough, but they could be poisoning your children.

Many contain excessive amounts of lead. That’s right, lead – the stuff we banned from paint and gasoline when research showed it was poisoning our children’s brains, leading to neurological problems, learning disorders and other serious illnesses.

Most people mistakenly think their kids are now safe from lead exposure, but numerous children’s toys, trinkets and costume jewelry contain levels of lead far in excess of those allowed by the federal government. Recently, that cost a 4-year-old boy his life, when he swallowed a charm bracelet given away as a freebie with a brand new pair of Reebok shoes. The boy died of lead poisoning several days later. The bracelets have since been recalled, but unfortunately, these aren’t the only toys to have slipped through the cracks.

Since 2003, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a dozen lead warnings for children’s toys sold in gumball machines and in retail stores. Earlier this year, several companies – including Target, Kmart, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Sears and Disney stores – agreed to ban products that contained dangerous levels of lead. But often companies don’t know a product is unsafe until somebody else discovers it and tests it.

Children who have been exposed to high levels of lead may not show symptoms until they are very sick. Lead can cause permanent damage to body organs, including the brain. The only way to find out if a child has high levels of lead in his or her bloodstream is through testing.

In the meantime, it may be wise to find other ways to “treat” your children than to give them quarters for the gumball machine.

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To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org