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Lead in Candy
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Message
to Parents
Here are several things
that parents can do to protect their children from lead-contaminated
candy:
- Familiarize yourself with the candies that have often tested
high for lead. View
the Orange Country Register's photos of toxic treats, and download
informative posters about these candies.
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Resources
The following
links can provide you with more information about the health effects
of lead
exposures:
 Download informative posters to put up at
home, work, or in the classroom (requires Adobe Acrobat):
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Trick or Tragedy:
Parents Urged to Avoid Lead-Tainted Candy This Halloween
October 24, 2004
During National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (October 24
through 30), the Center of Environmental Health (CEH) is urging
parents to avoid certain candies imported from Mexico that lab
testing has shown to be contaminated with potentially dangerous
levels of lead. More than 112 brands of candy sold in California,
most of them made in Mexico and marketed to Latino children,
have tested positive for dangerous levels of lead in the past
decade. In nearly every case, state regulators have failed to
take any action to protect children and the candy remains for
sale on store shelves.
“The scariest thing this Halloween could be the threat
to our children from these dangerous candies,” said CEH
Executive Director Michael Green. “We’ll all be ghosts
by the time the state takes action, but we won’t wait any
longer while children are at risk.”
The Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) of San Diego began
testing imported candies in 2001 and has led the campaign to
force regulators to take action to protect California’s
children. Earlier this year, CEH joined their effort by suing
the manufacturers, distributors, and retailers of Mexican candy
for exposing children to dangerous amounts of lead in candy.
Based on test results of candies and wrappers, EHC and CEH urge
shoppers to not buy the following Top 12 Candies to Avoid:
Chaca Chaca Super Rebanaditas
Lucas Limon Tama Roca
Tablarindo Paleton con Chile
Serpentinas Vero Rebanaditas
Pelon Pelo Rico Vero Mango
Bolirindo and Rollito de Tamarind (by Dulmex)
“
Our children are eating these poisons without knowing it and
unfortunately the health department is not doing anything about
it” said Leticia Ayala, Director of the Environmental Health
Coalition’s Campaign to Eliminate Childhood Lead Poisoning.
Parents need to be extra vigilant about the candy they are buying
and giving out this Halloween.
Chronic low-level exposure to lead in the home and food can
cause developmental problems in children, including impaired
growth, reduced IQ and learning disabilities, and behavioral
and hyperactivity problems. The state has estimated that as many
as 15% of lead poisoned children in the state have eaten leaded
candy, and 75% of lead-poisonings state-wide are Latino children.
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Día de Brujas o Día de Envenenamiento:
El Centro de Salud Ambiental urge a los Padres de Familia a que
eviten golosinas contaminadas con plomo
28 de octubre 2004
Durante la Semana Nacional de Prevención
contra Envenenamiento por Plomo (del 24 al 30 de octubre) el
Centro de Salud Ambiental (CEH) exhorta a los padres de familia
a evitar ciertas golosinas importadas desde México cuyo
peligroso contenido de plomo ha sido demostrado mediante pruebas
de laboratorio. En la última década, más
de 112 marcas de dulces distribuidos en California han rendido
resultados positivos en pruebas de contenido de plomo. La mayoría
de estas golosinas son hechas en México y promocionadas
a niños latinos en California. Por su parte, los procuradores
del estado han fracasado en su función de proteger a nuestros
niños y tristemente los dulces contaminados siguen a la
venta.
“El aspecto más tenebroso de este Día de
Brujas podría ser la amenaza que estos riesgosos dulces
representan para nuestros niños” declara Michael
Green, director ejecutivo del CEH. “No esperaremos más
mientras nuestros niños estén en peligro, ya que
de así hacerlo, todos seremos fantasmas para cuando el
estado decida tomar cartas en el asunto”.
La Coalición de Salud Ambiental (EHC) de San Diego ha
conducido desde el 2001 análisis del contenido de caramelos
importados, y ha dirigido una campaña para obligar a los
procuradores del estado a proteger a la infancia de California.
A principios de este año, el CEH se unió a los
esfuerzos del EHC al demandar a los productores, a los distribuidores
y a los vendedores de los dulces mexicanos en cuestión
por exponer a la población infantil a cantidades nocivas
de plomo.
En base a los resultados del análisis de golosinas y
de sus envoltorios, el CEH y el EHC incitan a los padres de familia
a evitar la compra de los siguientes 12 dulces más peligrosos:
Chaca Chaca Super Rebanaditas
Lucas Limón Tama Roca
Tablarindo Paleton con Chile
Serpentinas Vero Rebanaditas
Pelon Pelo Rico Vero Mango
Bolirindo Rollito de Tamarindo (hecho por Dulmex)
“Nuestros niños consumen estos venenos sin saberlo
y desafortunadamente el departamento de salud no esta haciendo
nada al respecto” expresó Leticia Ayala, directora
de la Campaña Para la Eliminación del Envenenamiento
Infantil por Plomo, campaña que conduce la Coalición
de Salud Ambiental. En este Día de Brujas, los padres
necesitan prestar especial atención a los dulces que compren
y distribuyan entre nuestros niños.
La exposición crónica a niveles bajos de plomo
en el hogar y en la comida puede causar problemas de desarrollo
en los niños, incluyendo problemas de crecimiento, reducción
del coeficiente intelectual, reducción de la capacidad
de aprendizaje y disposición a problemas de comportamiento
y de hiperactividad. El estado estima que hasta un 15% de las
víctimas infantiles de envenenamiento por plomo en California
han consumido dulces contaminados de plomo, y que hasta un 75%
de los envenenamientos en el estado afectan a niños hispanos.
Para más información, visite nuestro sitio en
Internet: www.cehca.org
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CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL
HEALTH FILES LEGAL NOTICE AGAINST MEXICAN CANDY MANUFACTURERS
FOR CANDY CONTAINING LEAD
CONTACT: Michael Green, Joanna Mattson or Micaela Davis, CEH: (510) 594-9864
The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) has filed a 60- Day
Notice to the California Attorney General’s office of intent
to sue the manufacturers, distributors, and retailers of Mexican
candy for exposing children to dangerous amounts of lead in their
products. Many types of Mexican candy and their wrappers have
been shown to contain high amounts of lead in numerous tests
conducted by the California Department of Health Services, the
Food and Drug Administration, and an independent lab hired by
the Orange County Register. However, little has been done by
regulating bodies to eliminate this health threat from our communities.
This health threat disproportionately affects Mexican citizens
and Latino communities in California. CEH hopes their actions
will add to efforts by the Environmental Health Coalition (EHC)
in San Diego to force the makers of this contaminated candy to
clean up their act so that children in California and in Mexico
can safely eat their candy.
“It is unacceptable that these corporations continue to
knowingly expose children to toxic amounts of lead,” said
Michael Green, executive director of CEH. “We expect our
actions to change the companies’ behavior so that their
product is clean.”
CEH has been working closely with EHC to address this serious
threat to children’s health. EHC has led a longstanding
campaign to force the regulatory bodies in California to address
this issue by conducting extensive testing of imported candy
and better informing the public. CEH hopes that the suit against
the companies will further this campaign and EHC’s efforts
to have the contaminated candy removed from stores.
Proposition 65 is California’s Safe Drinking Water and
Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, which ensures the public’s
right-to-know about toxic chemicals in consumer products and
in the environment. Public interest groups like CEH use Prop
65 to hold corporations accountable for their environmental and
health impacts.
The Center for Environmental Health protects the public from environmental
and consumer health hazards. We are committed to environmental justice, reducing
the use of toxic chemicals, supporting communities in their quest for a safer
environment, and corporate accountability. We change corporate behavior through
education, litigation, and advocacy.
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