Environmental Toxins: Lunchbox Safety Tests Questioned

Government scientists tested 60 soft, vinyl lunchboxes in 2005 and found that one in five contained amounts of lead that were considered unsafe and several of the lunchboxes had over ten times the lead concentration considered dangerous. However, scientists told the public differently: they said they had found "no instances of hazardous levels." Additionally, the scientists did not release their actual test results to the public, saying that releasing the data would violate the privacy of lunchbox manufacturers. However, the data was released a year ago to the Associated Press in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Lunchbox safety tests questioned

The data of the test showed that 20 percent of the lunchboxes had more than 600 parts per million of lead, this is the federal safe level for paint and other products. The highest level found was 9,600 parts per million, more than 16 times the federal standard. However, Julie Vallese, a spokeswoman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said that these data were irrelevant: "When it comes to a lunchbox, it's carried. The food that you put in the lunchbox may have an outer wrapping, a baggie, so there isn't direct exposure. The direct exposure would be if kids were putting their lunchboxes in their mouth, which isn't a common way for children to interact with their lunchbox." Representative Hanry Waxman, D-California, disagreed: "I am concerned that the CPSC has failed to protect children from an unnecessary hazard they have known about for some time. We should protect our children by banning lead in all children's products."