Disney, Toys R Us Named in New Legal Action on Lead in Bibs 

Oakland, CA - The Center for Environmental Health announced today that independent testing has found more baby bibs with high levels of lead. Vinyl bibs purchased from Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores, including a bib with Disney's "Winnie the Pooh" characters and store brand bibs marketed as "Koala Baby" and "Especially for Baby" bibs, tested for lead levels that are between three and four times the legal limit for lead in paint. CEH also found a "Kidcosmic" brand vinyl bib sold in a Lisa Kline store with similarly high lead levels. In May, CEH exposed Wal-Mart for selling vinyl baby bibs tainted with lead, resulting in the company stopping the sale of the bibs nationwide.

"Lead in vinyl baby bibs poses a reckless, unnecessary hazard to children at the most vulnerable age," said Caroline Cox, Research Director at CEH. "These companies have known for months that vinyl bibs could be a threat to children, yet they continued to put their profits ahead of children's health. We expect these bibs to be removed from store shelves immediately."

CEH took legal action yesterday, notifying the retailers that their bibs violate California law. In Illinois, the baby bibs would also be illegal, as that state is the only one in the country with a law banning any children's product that contains more than 600 ppm of lead.

Remarkably, after tests by three independent labs found high levels of lead in WalMart bibs in May, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) released an inaccurate and misleading statement, claiming that lead in baby bibs is a hazard "only [for] used bibs that are worn or have deteriorated." In fact, all of the tests on the WalMart, Toys R Us, Disney and Lisa Kline bibs were on new bibs. CEH testing includes a swab test which demonstrates the presence of lead on the surface of baby bibs, where children would be in direct contact with lead, followed by a lab test for total lead content.

"CPSC has a chance to step up to the plate and order a national recall to protect children, but the recent past has shown that the agency is more concerned with protecting companies that make and sell poisonous products," said Charlie Pizarro, Associate Director of CEH. "Their refusal to accept the scientific findings of laboratories from across the country shows that the CPSC cannot be trusted to protect children from lead poisoning." An Associated Press expose in January showed that when CEH discovered high lead levels in vinyl children's lunchboxes, CPSC conducted tests that were rigged to show lower lead levels.

Recent reports have suggested that CPSC, with a staff of four hundred and an annual budget of $63 million, is under-resourced and under-funded. CEH, which in the past two years has helped stop the sale of millions of lead tainted children's products, has a staff of ten and an annual budget of about $1 million.

CEH recommends that parents avoid vinyl bibs and replace any vinyl bibs with organic cotton bibs or bibs made from other safer materials. "Parents need to know that vinyl is a poison plastic that doesn't belong near their kids," said Cox.

CEH has a ten-year track record of protecting children from hidden lead risks in consumer products, using legal action to eliminate lead threats from vinyl lunchboxes, baby powders, children's medicines, imported candies, and metal and vinyl jewelry.

Click the following link for the CEH report, " An Unnecessary Poison: Babies, Bibs and Lead"

The Associated Press story on CPSC and lead lunchboxes is at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/18/AR2007021800528_pf.html