August 15, 2006
A Back to School Warning:
Children’s Vinyl Lunch Boxes Can Contain Dangerous Levels of Lead
Common soft plastic lunchboxes can contain an unwanted poisonous metal, lead. The Center for Environmental Health has been testing lunchboxes for lead since last summer and has found lead in popular brands of vinyl lunchboxes. The level of lead in one lunch box, 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.
“Lead exposure should not be on the lunch menu when kids’ go back to school this fall,” said Michael Green, CEH Executive Director. “There is no reason to expose children to any lead from lunch boxes. We are calling on these companies to recall these products and take action to eliminate lead from their products in the future.”
Initial independent laboratory testing commissioned by CEH last year found seventeen lunch boxes with high lead levels. Since then, a number of leading lunch box manufacturers, including InGear and Fast Forward, have agreed to reduce or eliminate the amount of lead in their lunchboxes. Just last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration wrote a letter to manufacturers and urged "companies to refrain from marketing such lead-containing lunchboxes." As a result, CEH has found that, although lunchboxes are not yet lead-free, there are fewer lunchboxes with lead on store shelves this year.
In most cases, the highest lead levels CEH found were in the lining of lunch boxes, where lead could come into direct contact with food. Lead is known to be harmful to children even in minute amounts, as it can impair brain development and cause other behavioral and developmental problems. Children may be exposed to lead from lunch boxes when they eat food that has been stored in them. Handling the lunchboxes just before eating could also be an exposure risk.
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. Parents can also cheaply and easily test vinyl lunchboxes for lead; for information visit www.cehca.org/lunchboxes.htm#test.
Photos of some of the lunch boxes can be found at www.cehca.org/lunchboxes.htm#photos .
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