Dangerous amounts of lead found in purses
Taylor Stephens
Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: News
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Michael Green, the executive director for CEH, said there has never been a law regarding how much lead is allowed to be placed in vinyl.
"A federal law that went into effect last year requires that materials in products for children contain no more than 300 parts per million of lead," Green said.
"Under the CEH agreements, purses sold from all of the companies will ultimately be made with materials that contain no more than 300 ppm of lead, with an even stricter standard for some materials."
The companies Green mentioned include major outlet stores such as Target, Walmart, Macy's, JCPenny and Sears.
Heather Brannan, a freshman secondary education major, said no amount of fashion is worth that kind of risk.
"I value my health much more than an expensive purse," Brannan said. "It's great to look good on the outside, but if it's something that could harm me on the inside I just wouldn't take that risk."
According to a press release by CEH, they discovered that most purses contained between 13 times and more than 115 times the 300 ppm standard agreed upon in the settlement.
This research also yielded that weathering can dramatically increase the amount of lead that wipes off of them, which suggests that as a purse ages, the threats of lead become even more hazardous.
Collin Wick, an analytical chemist and assistant professor of chemistry, said lead is generally only bad if you inhale it or ingest it.
"If you touch [lead] - heck, many of us fish with lead weights - there should not be problems," Wick said. "The problems usually occur with children, as they tend to put everything in their mouths."
Wick said if you want to be cautious then he suggests not using the purses.
"I wouldn't use lead vinyl purses if you had very young kids or were pregnant," Wick said.
"Also, make sure you wash your hands before you eat if you have a vinyl or fake leather purse.
"The biggest thing about lead poisoning is that it is worse in smaller people, such as kids."
Dale Snow, program chair and professor of chemistry, said from a biochemical perspective, he is more worried about the children.
"I'm more concerned about very young children being exposed to toys coated with paints containing lead than I am about lead/vinyl materials in purses," Snow said.
"Lead in toys is prohibited, but we have to keep vigilant to ensure that manufacturers do not have any production lapses and allow lead or any other heavy metals into the composition of their products."
Snow said he does not believe there is much to worry about as far as vinyl purses and wallets go.
He said, "As long as we have a well-enforced government regulation of products and mandatory testing of products, we should have safe commercial products."
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