Lead In Paint For Children's Toys

(Campbell, 2016). Two giants in childhood lead poisoning research and advocacy, Dr. Philip Landrigan and Dr. David Bellinger, summarize the adverse effects of lead very completely, yet succinctly: “Lead is a devastating poison. It damages children’s brains, erodes intelligence, diminishes creativity and the ability to weigh consequences and make good decisions, impairs language skills, shortens attention span, and predisposes to hyperactive and aggressive behavior. Lead exposure in early childhood is linked to later increased risk for dyslexia and school failure.”(p. 3).

Mattel is starting to take a step in the right direction, according to Renae Merle from The Washington Post, “Mattel said it was strengthening its process for preventing the use of lead based paint, it will only permit paint from certified suppliers and require every batch to be tested, company officials said” (Merle 1). 80% of toys in the United States are imported from China, according to Renae Merle, and 65% of those toys are created by Mattel. Although that is a step in the right direction, that still leaves 15% of the toys in the United States at a higher risk of having high traces of lead on them, going undetected. Stores like Toys ‘R’ Us that sell toys sold by companies other than Mattel, should be required to post the percentage of how much lead is in each toy directly next to or near the toy so that parents can be aware of this problem. If parents are not made aware of this problem, it is going to cause more concerns health wise. Michelle Albert, a stay at home mom of two children states that “I feel our country should be more careful about the things we import” (Albert 1). She fears that her children may have been exposed to these toys and has no way of knowing until it may be too late.

Potential lead contamination from drinking water presents a significant health risk. Recent examples of this lead contamination include Flint, Michigan, a city that experienced a large increase in the number of people, especially children, who exhibited symptoms of lead poisoning. A March 9, 2016 article in the Washington Post reported data from the Environmental Protection Agency that indicated approximately 350 schools and day-care centers across the US failed lead tests approximately 470 times between 2012 and 2015. Seven years ago, according to the Post, a study concluded that hundreds of young children in Washington, DC, had potentially damaging amounts of lead in their blood due to contamination in the city’s tap water. The toxin can cause permanent developmental and behavioral issues.

Lead can cause many things such as cancer, strokes, kidney disease, memory problems, high blood pressure,premature birth, reduced birth weight, seizures, hearing loss, brain damage, behavior problems, learning disabilities, and lower IQ for six and up.We can fix this problem by removing lead base pipes, removing lead in paints, making sure our houses and pipes are in good shape, and finally lead tests.If we don't stop lead and drinking water now, then we will get sick or possibly a chance of Sertain death, or the other way with our family members.

Lead poisoning in children was first discovered in 1890 in Queensland, Australia. The lead source was not identified until 1904, when a researcher traced it to the paint used on railings and verandahs. The first discovery of lead poisoning in the United States (with a traceable source) was in 1914; the child had chewed the paint off of his crib. At this time they linked lead poisoning as a cause of convulsions in children. As research progressed and more children were found with high lead levels, symptoms caused by lead were expanded to include lead meningitis, acute encephalopathy, intellectual dullness, reduced consciousness, seizures, comas, and death (Chisholm, 1982).

Lead, a naturally occurring metal and can be used in almost everything. It can cause serious health issues if it is exposed for a long time, particularly in children as they are more susceptible to absorbing and retaining lead in their bodies. Each year, in the United States 310,000 of 1- to 5-year age group are found to have unsafe levels of lead in their blood, which can cause a wide range of symptoms. (1)

* Lead. Lead is hazardous to health as it accumulates in the body and affects the central nervous system. Children and pregnant women are most at risk.

If you look through the federal rules concerning lead paint, you will see that the lion's share of defining standards are all about buildings inhabited by children. Aside from the obvious need to protect our children, this is because children are more susceptible to the effects of lead poisoning. For example, a child’s cerebral membrane is still largely permeable until the age of

I believe that the vendors that Mattel outsourced to and the subcontractors are responsible. Because the vendors were trying to cut corners to save money and time, and as stated the lead paint was 30% cheaper the unleaded paint. Hong Li Da violated the rule and also didn’t fail to test for lead in the products. There are national standards on the lead levels in China, but in some areas of China no one really enforces it, so factories can’t pick what ever paint the want. What is the best way to ensure the safety of children’s

The implications with the factor of heath come into play because the primary issue with lead contaminated paint was that it caused severe health problems in children and adults who inhaled the toxic dust. When the dust is inhaled, or ingested somehow, the body is affected in many different ways, and the person will start to experience symptoms that result in the diagnosis of lead poisoning. Lead poisoning is something that can be diagnosed by studying the amount of lead in a person’s blood. After an acute study of the effects of lead in the body, it was concluded that certain levels of lead were dangerous, and can be treated with doses of chelation therapy, which can help reduce amount of lead in the blood. If the levels of lead are larger

Approximately 24 million housing units have deteriorated lead paint, and have increased the levels of lead-contaminated house dust since lead paint was banned from being used in houses and other industries since 1978 (Lead Prevention). The original problem was lead poisoning from paint, and was a global issue because the manufactured paint for houses, toys, and other items that needed paint, contained this chemical around the world. The original purpose of putting the chemical into paint was to help speed up the drying of the paint, the lead increased permanency, it helped preserve a fresh look and appearance, and it assisted in resisting the moisture the causes corrosion. Unfortunately, it helped all of these factors making it a useful chemical, but after the effects of the chemical were found in people and animals, it became an environmental hazard. (Healthy Homes/ Lead).

In 2007, the international toy manufacturer, Mattel, Inc. issued several recalls for millions of their products. These recalls were for safety reasons in that testing at the manufacturing sites and special test laboratories showed that millions of their toys were coated with dangerous amounts of lead in the paint. This lead based paint contains a potent neurotoxin that if ingested can cause serious harm to children. Mattel assured the public that the problem would be solved, the recalled products would be collected and replaced, and that the company would never let this type of incident happen again.

Moreover, exposure to lead and taking a lot of medication without consulting a doctor may lead to

Coming to the modern days, it was discovered that lead was an excellent additive for paint. In the 1900’s lead had become a part of the modern lifestyle, it could be found in household items, eating utensils, children’s’ toys, baby cribs, and gasoline and pipes. Upon discovering the negative side effects of lead; France, Belgium, and Austria banned lead interior paint in 1909. Then by 1922 the League of Nations had banned lead paint completely. Despite all the records showing how awful lead poisoning can be it wasn’t until 1971 that the U.S. had phased out lead based paint with the Lead Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act. In this act Title 42 Chapter 63 Subchapter IV states; “(A) Prohibits the application of lead-based paint on cooking utensil, drinking utensil, or eating utensil manufactured and distributed after January 13, 1971. (B) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall take steps and impose such conditions as may be necessary or appropriate to prohibit the use of

To please the public the industry also said they would conduct research about the effects of lead, but the research was funded by the lead industry so they skewed the presentation of the results to the public. Soon there were also cases reported of lead poisoning in children from their habit of biting lead-painted toys. This time the lead industry tried to distract the public by increasing their advertisements highlighting the benefits of lead using the mascot of the Dutch Boy Painter and slogans, such as “ethyl is to gasoline what vitamins are to food.” However, by the 1970’s with the introduction of safer elements and the decrease in public support, the lead industry lost its importance in the world.