Obama Asks Congress to Deliver Law Banning Dangerous Lead in Toys in Time for the Holiday Season
Thursday, December 1, 2005
Printable FormatFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Obama Contact: Robert Gibbs or Tommy Vietor, (202) 228-5511
Illinois Contact: Julian Green, (312) 886-3506
Date: December 1, 2005
Obama Asks Congress to Deliver Law Banning Dangerous Lead in Toys in Time for the Holiday Season
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today called on Congress to pass legislation that would ban the sale of children's toys containing lead in time for the holiday season.
"As a parent of two young children, it's frightening to think that a toy or a lunchbox I purchase for one of my daughters could unknowingly expose her to toxic lead," said Obama. "But as recently as 2003, millions of pieces of toy jewelry had to be recalled from store shelves because they contained dangerously high levels of lead, and one popular lunchbox was found to contain more than 90 times more lead than the legal limit."
According to a study by the Center for the Environmental Health, about 10-20% of tested lunch boxes have unsafe levels of lead. The popular "Angela Anaconda" lunch box was found to have 56,400 parts per million of lead, which is more than 90 times the legal limit for lead in paint in children's products. Another study found that 60 percent of more than 400 pieces of costume jewelry purchased at major department stores contain dangerous amounts of lead. And from September 2003 through July 2004, there were 3 recalls of nearly 150 million pieces of toy jewelry because of toxic levels of lead.
"Thousands of children each year needlessly suffer from lead poisoning, which can lead to learning difficulties as well as serious health problems," said Obama. "Parents should never have to worry that a gift for their children will make them sick. That is why I hope Congress will address this problem before the holiday season by banning these unsafe products."
Obama's legislation, the Lead Free Toys Act of 2005, requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission to prescribe regulations classifying any children's product containing lead as a banned substance under the Hazardous Substances Act. This would include any product marketed or used by children under age six that contains more than trace amounts of lead. The Act also requires the Commission to issue standards for reduction of lead in electronic devices.
Lead is highly toxic and continues to be a major preventable environmental health threat to infants, children, and pregnant women in the United States. Lead poisoning can be deadly, and almost one million children nationwide have toxic lead levels in their blood that can cause serious neurobehavioral disorders, impair children's growth, and the function of vital organs.
Illinois has the highest lead poisoning rate in the nation. According to an Illinois Department of Public Health report, Illinois amounted to 20.5 percent of all elevated blood levels reported nationwide. The report also found that African American children are more than three times as likely to suffer from elevated lead levels and Hispanic children are more than twice as likely to suffer from elevated lead levels.