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Caution issued regarding vinyl lunch boxes
Some vinyl lunch boxes may contain high levels of lead. The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) recently announced lawsuits against makers and retailers of soft vinyl lunch boxes that can expose children to harmful levels of lead. For example, an Angela Anaconda box made by Targus International, tested at 56,400 parts per million (ppm) of lead, more than 90 times the 600 ppm legal limit for lead in paint in children’s products.
Rhonda Sherman, DPS parent and faculty member of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at North Carolina State University, tested and found lead in her children’s lunch boxes after reading of the national report. Sherman wants DPS parents to be aware of this concern.
Initial independent laboratory testing commissioned by CEH has already found 17 lunch boxes with high lead levels, and the group’s investigation is ongoing. In addition to the testing on the Angela Anaconda lunch box, tests on other lunch boxes showed levels of lead between two and 25 times the legal limit for lead paint in children’s products.
It is not possible to tell by appearance whether a vinyl lunch box may contain lead, so CEH is advising parents to avoid vinyl lunch boxes altogether. To find out whether your child’s lunch box may contain lead, or if you would like to test the lead levels in your child’s lunchbox, find out more by visiting www.cehca.org/lunchboxes, or call (510) 594-9864.
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