What could possibly be WORSE than those reusable grocery bags you bought to save trees possibly being infected with E.coli bacteria? Think lead, sitting at number 82 on the Periodic Table, that has contaminated a lot of jewelry and cosmetics marketed for kids.
Current U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission rules on kids products allow 300 parts per million (ppm) of lead. That number will drop next summer to 90 ppm. Also, to the good, packaging regulations in 19 states already regulate lead. Unfortunately, Florida has no laws on the books governing lead in packaging at the moment, save for conflicting federal rules, hence the problem.
According to independent testing funded by The Tampa Tribune, some of these otherwise cute and benign reusable grocery bags sold by local grocers (Winn Dixie, Publix) exceeded the 100 ppm limit. The amount of lead contained in bags sold by national retailers (Target, Walmart), however, was incremental, not exceeding 5.5 ppm. The possible difference-maker: Bags with more designs or artwork covering them contained the highest amounts of lead. Conversely, bags with few illustrations had little lead.
A suggestion: Check with the local grocers in your neighborhood -- especially if you're making deliberate decisions to buy as many organic, pesticide-free foods as you can -- about the potential lead content in those reusable bags.
Your health will thank you for it.
The Tampa Tribune November 14, 2010
USA Today November 14, 2010