Government OKs Lead Lunchboxes

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published February 19, 2007 at 1:08 PM PST

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

A recent study found one in five vinyl lunchboxes contained unsafe amounts of lead. But the government agency that did the testing failed to tell the public about the lead hazard. KPBS Reporter Ed Joy

A recent study found one in five vinyl lunchboxes contained unsafe amounts of lead. But the government agency that did the testing failed to tell the public about the lead hazard. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has details.

The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission tested children's vinyl lunchboxes and claimed the boxes were safe. Alexa Engleman is with The Center for Environmental Health. She says one test showed many of the vinyl bags tested had lead levels more than 16 times the federal safe standard.

Become a KPBS sponsor

Engleman: It's mind-boggling to me why they would look at these numbers and look at the risk and know that there's no safe level of lead in children's blood and not take action on it. I really think they had a conclusion after testing a very small number of lunchboxes and that when they tested more they really wanted to fit the test results to that conclusion that there was no problem.

The consumer agency withheld information about the high levels of lead citing regulations that protect manufacturers from having their information released to the public. The study results were only released in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

Engleman says parents concerned about lead levels in their children's lunchboxes can perform a simple, inexpensive test using a swab that can be bought at local hardware stores. It's the same type of swab used to test for lead in paint.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

twitter

Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

See stories by Ed Joyce