The Green Parent

Bad news for tweens today. The Center for Environmental Health recently reported that high levels of lead were found in Hannah Montana products that are currently on sale at your favorite retailer.

According to the report, the vinyl on five of the twenty eight products tested (see below) had lead contents of 1,800 parts per million to 8,300 parts per million. That’s frighteningly higher than 600 parts per million federal standard for lead in paint.

Now, you probably already know that lead and kids do not go together. Lead exposure has been linked to impaired learning ability, irreversible neurological damage, cancer, strokes, high blood pressure, renal disease, reproductive toxicity, and behavior disorders. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, lead “is a serious threat to children’s health,” going on to say that “there is no ‘safe’ level of lead exposure.”

Yet, for some reason this stuff keeps showing up in areas where we’d least like to expect it, namely our children’s toys. So if you thought all of that lead paint stuff got sorted out after last year’s recalls, you were sadly mistaken. As I mentioned in my post on phthalates, it’s pretty obvious by now that we, as parents, need to play a more discriminatory role in the products that are kids are exposed to.

To learn more about lead and other toxins found in your children’s toys, check out The Consumer Action Guide to Toxic Chemicals in Toys.

The Offenders

Just which products need to get the lead out? According to the Center for Environmental Health, each of these “toys” had lead concentrations above 600 parts per million (The federal

standard for lead in paint):

1. Hannah Montana “Girls’ Rock Backpack

2. Hannah Montana “Undercover Pop Star” Backpack

3. Hannah Montana “Secret Star” Wallet

4. Hannah Montana “Slumber Tote”

5. Hannah Montana “Gadget Tote”