Toxic metals found in cartoon drinking glasses

[Guest guest]

I'm sending this out as a special announcement and please pass on because we

know even 'small' amounts of lead that previouslly were considered " normal " have

since 2003 research been linked to decline in IQ

Very Low Lead Levels Linked with IQ Deficits, According to NEJM Study

http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM198202113060618 -but since most can't

read it here - here's a link you can read about it

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/04/030417080210.htm

Toxic metals found in cartoon drinking glasses

Lab tests turn up 1,000 times the allowable amount of lead, plus cadmium, in

ongoing probe by the Associated Press

By JUSTIN PRITCHARD

The Associated Press

updated 11/22/2010 12:32:42 AM ET

LOS ANGELES — Drinking glasses depicting comic book and movie characters such as

Superman, Wonder Woman and the Tin Man from " The Wizard of Oz " exceed federal

limits for lead in children's products by up to 1,000 times, according to

laboratory testing commissioned by The Associated Press.

The decorative enamel on the superhero and Oz sets — made in China and purchased

at a Warner Brothers Studios store in Burbank — contained between 16 percent and

30.2 percent lead. The federal limit on children's products is 0.03 percent.

The same glasses also contained relatively high levels of the

even-more-dangerous cadmium, though there are no federal limits on that toxic

metal in design surfaces.

In separate testing to recreate regular handling, other glasses shed small but

notable amounts of lead or cadmium from their decorations. Federal regulators

have worried that toxic metals rubbing onto children's hands can get into their

mouths. Among the brands on those glasses: Coca-Cola, Walt Disney, Burger King

and Mc's.

Coca-Cola, which had been given AP's test results last week, announced Sunday

evening that after retesting it was voluntarily recalling 88,000 glasses.

The AP testing was part of the news organization's ongoing investigation into

dangerous metals in children's products and was conducted in response to a

recall by Mc's of 12 million glasses this summer because cadmium escaped

from designs depicting four characters in the latest " Shrek " movie.

The New Jersey manufacturer of those glasses said in June that the products were

made according to standard industry practices, which includes the routine use of

cadmium to create red and similar colors.

To assess potential problems with glass collectibles beyond the " Shrek " set, AP

bought and analyzed new glasses off the shelf, and old ones from online

auctions, thrift shops and a flea market. The buys were random.

The fact it was so easy to find glasses that appeal to kids and appear to

violate the federal lead law suggests that contamination in glassware is wider

than one Mc's promotion.

The irony of the latest findings is that AP's original investigation in January

revealed that some Chinese manufacturers were substituting cadmium for banned

lead in children's jewelry; that finding eventually led to the Mc's-Shrek

recall; now, because of the new testing primarily for cadmium in other

glassware, lead is back in the spotlight as well.

AP's testing, conducted by ToyTestingLab of Rhode Island, found that the enamel

used to color the Tin Man had the highest lead levels, at 1,006 times the

federal limit for children's products. Every Oz and superhero glass tested

exceeded the government limit: The Lion by 827 times and Dorothy by 770 times;

Wonder Woman by 533 times, Superman by 617 times, Batman by 750 times and the

Green Lantern by 677 times.

Federal regulators will decide whether the superhero and Oz glasses are

" children's products " and thus subject to strict lead limits; if U.S. Consumer

Product Safety Commission staffers conclude the glasses to fall outside that

definition, the lead levels would be legal.

Judging by the agency's own analysis, obtained by the AP under the Freedom of

Information Act, the Oz and superhero glasses appeal to kids.

" Licensed characters based on action superhero themes or friendship themes are

very popular " with children ages 6 to 8, CPSC staff wrote when explaining why

the " Shrek " glasses, which featured the cartoon ogre and his friends, would end

up in children's hands.

Warner Brothers said, " It is generally understood that the primary consumer for

these products is an adult, usually a collector. "

However, on Warner Brothers' website, the superhero glasses are sold alongside

kids' T-shirts with similar images and a school lunch box. An online retailer,

www.retroplanet.com, describes the 10-ounce glasses as " a perfect way to serve

cold drinks to your children or guests. "

The importer, Utah-based Vandor LLC, said it " markets its products to adult

collectors. " The company said less than 10,000 of each set had been sold and

that the products were made under contract in China.

In this photo, a computer screen attached to an argon plasma torch displays

graphs indicating the presence of various elements detected during testing of

samples taken from designs on the exterior of commemorative glassware, at

ToyTestingLab, in Warwick, R.I. Solutions with samples taken with swabs from the

surface of the glasses were passed through the argon plasma torch to determine

the presence of toxic metals such as cadmium and lead. The combustion of various

elements in the samples alters the color of the flame during the test, giving

lab technicians an indication of the metals present.

The company said that superhero and " Oz " glasses both passed testing done for

Vandor by a CPSC-accredited lab, including the same lead content test that

ToyTestingLab did for AP — a test only required of children's products.

Spokeswoman Meryl Rader did not answer when asked why a test specific to

children's products would be performed on glasses the company said were not

intended for kids.

" The results were well within the legal limits " of 0.03 percent lead, Rader

wrote in an e-mail. The company would not share those results.

Informed in general terms of AP's results, CPSC spokesman Wolfson said

that the agency would pursue action against any high-lead glasses determined to

be children's products. The agency has authority to enforce lead levels for

glasses going back decades, he said.

AP's testing showed Vandor's Chinese manufacturer also relied on cadmium. That

toxic metal comprised up to 2.5 percent of the decorative surface of the Oz and

superhero glasses, nearly double the levels found in the recalled " Shrek "

glasses. But the CPSC only limits how much cadmium escapes from the designs, not

how much cadmium the designs contain. Even that regulation is new: The CPSC used

the " Shrek " glasses to establish a standard for how much cadmium coming out of

children's glassware creates a health hazard.

Five of the glasses that AP tested, including one ordered from the online

Coca-Cola store, shed at least as much cadmium as the CPSC found on the " Shrek "

glasses. While those five could have been deemed a health hazard under the CPSC

guidelines used for the recall, recent revisions tripled the allowable amount of

cadmium and the agency may no longer consider them a problem. The agency has

said its upward revision means the " Shrek " glasses did not need to be recalled.

The all-red Coke glass shed three times more cadmium than the Puss in Boots

" Shrek " glass that worried federal regulators the most last summer. Coke Zero

and Diet Coke glasses did not exhibit the same problem.

In announcing that it was voluntarily recalling 22,000, four-glass sets " for

quality reasons, " the Coca-Cola Co. said the glass designed to look like a red

can of Coca-Cola " did not meet our quality expectations. While recent tests

indicated some cadmium in the decoration on the outside of the glass, the low

levels detected do not pose a safety hazard or health threat. "

The company said consumers who purchased the glasses from Coke's online store

will receive an automatic credit; customers who bought the glasses in retail

stores will be instructed on what to do starting Nov. 30.

The glasses, which Coke said were " designed for the general adult population, "

were manufactured in the United States by Arc International, the same company

that made the recalled " Shrek " glasses.

In all, AP scrutinized 13 new glasses and 22 old ones, including glasses sold

during Mc's promotion for a 2007 " Shrek " movie. The used glasses date from

the late 1960s to 2007, mostly from promotions at major fast-food restaurants.

Thousands of such collectibles are available at online auction sites; countless

others are kept in American kitchen cabinets, and used regularly by children and

adults.

First, AP screened them using a state-of-the-art Olympus Innov-X gun that shoots

X-rays into a glass and delivers an estimate of how much lead, cadmium or

various other elements are present.

The glasses were then sent to ToyTestingLab, which is accepted by the CPSC as an

accredited laboratory for a range of procedures.

The glasses were tested according to the procedure that the safety commission

used in the " Shrek " recall. The decorated surface of each glass was stroked 30

times with water-soaked wipes, with each stroke representing a hand touch. The

wipes were then analyzed for how many micrograms of lead, cadmium or other

elements they collected.

Finally, for seven of the superhero and Oz glasses the lab extracted samples of

the decorations. That colored enamel was analyzed for its total lead content.

" I was extremely surprised at the levels, " said Perrotti, ToyTestingLab's

director, of the total content test. He said his lab has seen glasses that fail

to meet government standards, " But not 30 percent lead. "

Despite what Perrotti described as " grossly high " levels, the wipe testing

picked up very little lead coming out from these seven glasses. His staff had to

use a diamond-tipped grinder to remove the colors, suggesting the enamel was

strongly bonded to the glass.

Perrotti and glass engineers interviewed by AP said the surface of the glasses

AP tested could break down with repeated use, scouring and trips to the

dishwasher, making the metals more accessible.

Following a cascade of problems with products manufactured in China, Congress in

2008 passed strict new limits that effectively ban lead in any children's

product. The underlying materials in these products — including the baked-in

enamel — cannot be more 0.03 percent lead.

Lead has long been known to reduce IQ in kids; recent research suggests cadmium

also can damage young brains. Cadmium also is a carcinogen that can harm kidneys

and bones, especially if it accumulates over time.

Cadmium, however, also happens to be an indispensable pigment for an important

part of the color palette — without it there is no " fire engine red " (think

Superman's cape and Dorothy's slippers). Lead on the other hand is not

essential.

A lot of a toxic metal in a glass does not necessarily mean a health hazard.

Most of the 35 lab-tested glasses were safe under normal conditions — their

decorations shed very low or no detectable amounts of lead or cadmium. Among

those that did release higher levels in the wipe test, none gave off nearly

enough to make someone immediately sick, according to AP's analysis of the

results.

Instead, the concern is low levels of exposure over weeks or months, whether

kids also are eating a sandwich or licking their fingers.

In addition to the seven contaminated Oz and superhero glasses, 10 others raised

concern over longer-term contact — two for both lead and cadmium, five for lead

only and three for cadmium only. According to widely used computer modeling, the

contamination that came off three of the glasses could measurably increase a

child's blood lead level.

If half of what gets onto a child's hand enters their mouth, as the CPSC

calculates, seven of the glasses would require fewer than 20 hand touches for

kids age 6 and under to exceed U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines for

the maximum amount of lead they should ingest in a day.

Most of the 10 additional glasses were released before 2000, including a Disney

" Goofy " glass distributed by Mc's that shed lead and cadmium, and three

" Return of the Jedi " glasses from 1983 released by Burger King. One of the

" Jedi " glasses hit the FDA lead level for 6-year-olds after just eight touches.

Both fast food chains said in statements that their glasses met applicable

safety standards at the time they were manufactured. Disney, which ran several

promotions with Mc's for glassware AP tested, had no comment.

Using computer modeling, nationally recognized toxicologist Dr. Mushak, who

has advised government agencies including the CPSC and now operates a consulting

practice in North Carolina, concluded that if half of what came off the glasses

was ingested, it could raise a 5- to 6-year-old's blood lead level by 11 percent

on the high end and 4 percent on average.

The blood level changes didn't alarm Mushak, but he expressed concern because

lead from the glasses would be absorbed into the bones, only to be released much

later in life, for example in menopausal women.

Mushak suggested that the safety commission's wipe test could underestimate

real-world exposure, because it uses water on the wipes, a very mild approach.

AP's testing showed that when glasses were subjected to a wipe wetted with

artificial sweat, the amounts of lead or cadmium that came off were up to four

times higher than water wipes.

Members of the association representing the U.S. glassware industry say the

glasses are safe and strongly protest that the wipe test does not accurately

reflect how much lead or cadmium escapes in the real world.

Myra Warne, executive director of the Society of Glass and Ceramic Decorated

Products, said she is frustrated that the CPSC used it, rather than a more

commonly used method developed by the FDA.

" As we are aware, government agencies don't always (or perhaps often) share

their insight and knowledge with one another which is likely why CPSC and others

are fixated on improper test protocol for our products, " she wrote in an e-mail.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40309111/ns/health-kids_and_parenting#

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