March 21st, 2009



Carry Bags

Substantial Amounts Of Lead In Shopping Bags, States Customer Freedom Group

The group Consumer Freedom has released a new report about a source of danger in everyday life. Re-usable shopping bags are a severe risk, according to the report. Given that some cities, such as San Francisco, are banning single-use bags, lead-filled re-usable may turn out to be an unintended side effect. Source for this article – High levels of lead in shopping bags, says Consumer Freedom group by Newsytype.com.

Selling re-usable purchasing bags with a bit of lead

In Dec. of 2010, Customer Freedom, an advocacy group, collected re-usable buying bags being sold at various retail locations. The plastic material China makes, polypropylene, was what most bags were made from. The bags were sent to Frontier Global Sciences, a testing laboratory in Seattle. There were bags with lead in them sold at 36 percent of stores while the lead content was more than the 100 parts per million limits that heavy metals that are packaged have.

Dangers introduced by lead

Manufacturing processes is where heavy metal lead is found. the amount of lead that can be in packaging, drinking water and goods is limited by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Environmental Protection Agency and States. Too much lead can be terrible leading to several symptoms. Among these are listening to loss, anemia, increased blood pressure, low attention span, insomnia, irritability and fatigue. You probably should not continue to use the shopping bags. It is not likely that lead is leaking into your food though.

Customer Freedom Report leads to recalls

CVS did a recall of their polypropylene purchasing bags after the Consumer Freedom report came out. National chains nevertheless carry bags including Safeway, Walgreens, Bloom, Piggly Wiggly and others. The claims of lead-filled bags have to be investigated by each state. This is the only way a recall can be forced. The easiest way to prevent lead exposure from these bags is to buy or make re-usable bags made of cloth, instead of plastic.

Information from

EPA

epa.gov/superfund/lead/health.htm#Fed%20Recs

USA Today

content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2011/01/buying-lead-free-reusable-shopping-bags/1?csp=34

EDC – Everyday carry bag


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