Most Tuesdays I take the opportunity to rant about something I do not like about Target… because although I love ‘em to death, they ain’t perfect. Today’s rant is about Target being accused (again) of carrying unsafe lead products. And this time it’s in women’s purses, of all places.
Recently in California, dozens of accessories at a variety of retailers – including Target – were found violating the state’s lead standard. California’s lead standard, otherwise known as Proposition 65, prohibits businesses from knowingly exposing individuals to harmful chemicals without providing a warning. The problem is, Proposition 65 does not apply in Arizona or other states. Currently, there are no laws in Arizona regulating lead in purses, which led ABC15 in Phoenix to launch their own investigation.
They found that lead laced purses can still be on store shelves and you may not even know. And Diane Eckles with the Arizona Department of Health Services said that’s dangerous. She said children who mouth on or chew purses containing lead are most at risk. “I could see a child lead poisoned from these types of purses,” she said.
So the ABC15 Investigators tested 30 purses at six local stores using lead test swabs, and two Xhilaration brand purses sold at Target tested positive. After being sent to a lab to be broken down to see exactly how much lead was on the surface, the small orange Xhilaration brand purse (shown) came back showing a lead level of 4490 parts per million. That is more than seven times the EPA’s legal limit for lead in paint.
You can read the full story here, including Target’s lame response. My question is: why is lead even IN these products in the first place?? I just cannot fathom the logic in this.
5 comments:
You can tolerate small amounts of lead. It's a naturally-occurring element that's everywhere.
I live in California and there are Prop 65 warnings slapped on all kinds of products. I just bought a new car and there's a Prop 65 warning on that too. What, am I not supposed to ride in a car ever again? They can put all of the warnings they want, most people will just ignore them.
True, Becky. I also live in Calif. and the Prop 65 warnings are everywhere. And yes, humans can tolerate small amounts of lead. There's really no way to avoid it. But the amounts found in those purses are excessive and completely uneccesary, IMO.
I just bought a Hollywood Intuition purse that is orange. I know it's not mentioned here, but to be on the safe side; I'll keep it away from the toddlers in the family.
This is shocking. I read the article--VERY HIGH amounts of lead in those items. Thanks for the info. How do you stay so up to date--it's impressive!
So it must be lead in the paint, or the dye on them I guess..still thinking about this one. Wonder if my beloved Anya Hindmark target bag has LEAD in it!!! EHEHE
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