(Consumers Union: Yonkers, New York) -- Lead hazards in consumer products aren’t limited to the millions of toys recalled so far this year, according to Consumer Reports magazine.
Consumer Reports lab tests detected lead at widely varying levels in samples of dishware, jewelry, glue stick caps, vinyl backpacks, children’s ceramic tea sets, and other toys and items not on any federal recall list.
Additionally, the independent, nonprofit, testing organization found samples of a Fisher-Price blood-pressure cuff that is part of a toy medical kit that had surface lead in worrisome amounts. Consumer Reports advises parents to remove this toy from use.
The Consumer Reports investigation also notes that, for children, recent studies suggest development problems can occur at blood lead levels below what the government now considers elevated. And recent studies indicate that for older Americans, a portion of memory loss and other neurocognitive problems associated with normal aging might be linked to lifetime doses of lead.
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