1) Vinyl mini-blinds from Asia or Mexico.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported ,as of 1996, that Twenty-five million non-glossy, vinyl mini-blinds that where made in China, Taiwan, Mexico, and Indonesia where found to contain lead. They basically announced that ALL imported vinyl mini-blinds contain lead. I would not even mess around with them. Forget the lead test.  Just get rid of them. The problem is that every time you open and close them they could potentially release lead particles. Sunlight breaks down the vinyl which creates lead-contaminated dust. THROW THEM OUT. Aluminum blinds are fine. Either lead test the blinds or The Department of Environmental Quality reported that these blinds can be identified by doing the following,

“Scrape the blinds with a knife and if the paint comes off, they’re metal. If the mark remains

the same color, it’s probably vinyl. Or, tap the blinds with a metal object such as a knife and

listen to the sound. Third, the slats can be inspected at their edges-if the color is the same

as the top and bottom of the slat it probably is vinyl. If the color is bright aluminum it is not

vinyl. Fourth, the brackets holding the blind are usually easily determined to be either vinyl

or metal.”

2) Christmas Lights and Older Fake Christmas Trees
I have never performed a lead test on Christmas lights, exterior and interior, that did not fail. I am not saying that they don’t exist but what I am saying is that I have tested hundreds of these lights and all of them would harm a child’s future.  If you’re interested, Cornell University did a disturbing study that you can find here. http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Nov08/leadXmasLights.sl.html
It’s a very impressive paper that was published in the December 2008 issue of the Journal of Environmental Health.  Thank you Lelia M. Coyne and Mark R. Pierce for your work. You study was one of the drivers of my lead test site.

3) Electrical Cords
The majority of Electrical cords contain lead. There are a few manufactures that make cords that are lead free but lead has been used to help fire proof cords since there where power cords.  Keep your kids away from them or replace them with ones that are lead free. We have all be disturbed by that warning from the state of California that states,

“WARNING: Handling the power cord on this product will expose you to lead, a chemical known to the State of California to cause [cancer and] birth defects or other reproductive harm. WASH HANDS AFTER HANDLING”

What pisses me off about this warning is the “known to the State of California” bit. Yeah just California knows that lead will destroy your child’s future.

I have lead tested many power cords and extension cords. Trust me, they contain lead. Some had so much lead in them that the lead test almost glowed pink. Wash your hands after you handle any type of power cord. The most egregious ones where those brown power cords that you probably found in your garage from the former owner/renter.  Perform a lead test on them or just throw them out. Buy lead free ones.

4) The soil around Your Home
If your home was built prior to 1978 I would just assume that the soil around your home contains lead. Prior to 1978 lead was in most paint both exterior and interior. Over the yeas lead leached down the side of your home and into the ground.

5) Water
Lead levels in your water are likely to be highest if your home that has lead pipes and or copper pipes with lead solder. Plumbing installed prior to 1930 probably contains lead pipes. Plumbing installed prior to 1985 may contain lead solder in the copper joints. Brass faucets and ball valves may also contain lead.

home lead test kits

lead paint test kit

test for lead in paint

leadcheck® lead test kits

water lead test

paint lead test

lead paint

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This recall is more then a bit disturbing as it shows that products are still getting through our safety nets. Chinese manufactures are not held accountable for anything. I am sure that St. Martin’s Press LLC, of New York, N.Y. did not want this to happen. So who should be held responsible for these toxic IQ / future destroying products? Ultimately children and their parents will forced to carry this burden. Do you think  St. Martin’s Press LLC will be pay for all of the ailments that the effects of lead poisoning? Which product gave you child lead poisoning exactly? You see that is a very hard question to answer as lead is cumulative. Can you prove that your child ingested the lead in this product or was it the extension cords or Christmas lights? Which ones failed a paint lead test?

Parents……Only you and your children will be bare this burden. I think its fire and pitchfork time. St. Martin’s Press is only a symptom of the greater problem. Nothing will change until the consequences for poisoning our children are so severe that product manufactures will be afraid to not do the right thing.

If the CEO of a toy manufacturer poured poison in my sons juice box he would go to jail for the rest of her life. How is it that that same person, through negligence, produce a product that produces a similar outcome not go to jail?

Open Google and paste in “We apologize for this inconvenience. Big Rex and Friends Cloth Books.” To the person who wrote this disingenuous apology…..Fuck you and your apology. How about…. “We are sorry for the possible lifetime of hurt we have caused. We are sorry for the 4am screaming and crying that we have caused.” Damn you and your products.

Scott

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Timberland-Boot fails Test for Lead Paint

The boots are wheat-colored leather and were sold in toddler size 4 through junior size 7. Shoe stores and specialty retailers nationwide from June 2009 through October 2009 for between $50 and $70.

For additional information, contact Timberland at (800) 445-5545 between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

These boots have been on the shelves for four months so the probability that they are already in the homes on the feet of children makes me more then a little upset.  How is it that these boots made it through? How did they slip through the lead paint test of our watchdogs?

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Super Rigs Fail Test for Lead Paint

This toy truck’s surface paint contains high levels of lead, violating the federal lead paint standard and has been recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. No injuries have been reported related to this “product”. I will try to keep my comments to the specifics of this recall as this just pisses me off every time I read about these lead related recalls.

The “Super Rig Transport” comes with with trailer and vehicles.Specifically  the truck and trailer are multi-colored, holding two vehicles and two action figures. “Super Rigs Play Set” is labeled on the outside of the packaging. The box back has a bar code square with Item No. 67007, Made in China (Imagine that) and Bar Code 6-98567-67007-3. The bottom of the trailer has an engraved code 45TNGO9.   This Truck was sold at discount stores in the Southeast from September 2009 through November 2009 for the handsome sum of $20.

Consumers should return this product for a full refund. You can contact Variety Wholesalers at (800) 678-7776 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s Web site at http://www.vwstores.com.

The CPSC is apparently interested in hearing about any incidents or injuries that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Go to  https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspxto report any problems.

For more information on the effects of lead poisoning visit my blog link or check out the EPAs website.

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Recalled Products Search Tool

If you are looking for products that have been recalled due to lead contamination simply select lead from the list and hit find. Its that easy.

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