HIGH LEAD LEVELS DETECTED IN SOME VINYL TOYS.Byline: Jane Kay San Francisco Examiner The San Francisco Examiner is a U.S. daily newspaper. It has been published continuously in San Francisco, California, since the late 19th Century. History 19th century The beginning of the Examiner is a topic of some controversy. Popular vinyl toys, including Barbie's backpack and Tweety's rain hat, contain levels of lead apparently exceeding California health standards, researchers found. Scientists tested 131 products, including toys, video cables, phone cords, place mats and other household items. Of those, two dozen were tainted taint v. taint·ed, taint·ing, taints v.tr. 1. To affect with or as if with a disease. 2. To affect with decay or putrefaction; spoil. See Synonyms at contaminate. 3. with lead above a level recommended by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission when it first found the toxic metal toxic metal Environment Any metal known to be toxic to humans–eg, antimony, arsenic, beryllium, bismuth, cadmium, lead, mercury, nickel. Cf Nontoxic metal. in vinyl mini-blinds two years ago. Greenpeace, which sponsored the research, released the data in a study titled ``Lead and Cadmium cadmium (kăd`mēəm) [from cadmia, Lat. for calamine, with which cadmium is found associated], metallic chemical element; symbol Cd; at. no. 48; at. wt. 112.41; m.p. 321°C;; b.p. 765°C;; sp. gr. 8. in Vinyl Children's Products.'' At the Greenpeace's request, a Chicago laboratory, Stat Analysis, tested lead and cadmium in polyvinyl chloride polyvinyl chloride (PVC), thermoplastic that is a polymer of vinyl chloride. Resins of polyvinyl chloride are hard, but with the addition of plasticizers a flexible, elastic plastic can be made. , or PVC PVC: see polyvinyl chloride. PVC in full polyvinyl chloride Synthetic resin, an organic polymer made by treating vinyl chloride monomers with a peroxide. , products sold across the country. The University of North Carolina's Environmental Quality Institute estimated exposure levels and found that many products appeared to exceed safety levels set by California's Proposition 65, the Safe Drinking Water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. and Toxic Substances Act of 1986. ``The conclusion we're coming to is that PVC is not a good material to be making products that children will come in contact with,'' said Richard Maas, associate director of the university's institute. ``PVC by its nature is an unstable plastic. PVC produces chlorine as it ages, and manufacturers have to use stabilizers like lead, cadmium and organotin to absorb it.'' The institute conducts research on lead in faucet fittings, submersible pumps, calcium supplements and, more recently, brass water meters. Deputy Attorney General Susan Fiering, who specializes in Proposition 65 cases, said, ``This is of interest to us. . . . We have not received any notice of the study yet. We'll certainly look into it.'' As a result of the study, health officials are calling on manufacturers and the government to curtail exposures to children. Critics have said the Consumer Products Safety Commission hasn't taken an aggressive enough stance in setting standards or testing products. Representatives of the Consumer Product Safety Commission said they would continue to review results of the study. But in their preliminary examination, they said they found fewer products contained lead than what the Chicago lab had reported. Lead poisoning lead poisoning or plumbism (plŭm`bĭz'əm), intoxication of the system by organic compounds containing lead. is the No. 1 environmental problem facing the nation's children. In recent years, lead levels have fallen as regulations have curbed lead in paint, gas and other products. |
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