USWNEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nov. 13, 2007
Contacts: Connie Mabin, USW, 412-562-2616 or
[email protected], Judy Braiman of Empire State Consumer Association, 585-383-1317; or Dr. Kathleen Burns of Sciencecorps,
[email protected]Kids’ Bracelet Contains Extremely Toxic Cadmium
CSPC not interested in “new public health threat”
PITTSBURGH - The United Steelworkers (USW) today said the latest toxic toy discovery – extremely high levels of poisonous cadmium in an imported kids’ charm bracelet – is more proof that the nation’s failed trade policies and a broken regulatory system are putting children at risk and must immediately be fixed.
The troubling discovery is the latest in a toxic import crisis in which dangerous products such as poisoned pet food, lead-laced baby bibs and toys, red-leaded steel and counterfeit electrical circuit breakers have flooded North America. More than 30 million toys alone have been recalled this year because of high levels of lead.
“It is appalling that another imported product could be poisoning our children. Lead, cadmium - no toxins have any place in our children’s products. This toy needs to be immediately recalled, but until our failed trade policies are remedied, our families are going to remain endangered,” said USW President Leo W. Gerard. His union has been screening toys for lead in the United States and Canada as part of the “Protect Our Kids – Stop Toxic Imports” campaign.
The USW was made aware of the metal bracelet by Dr. Kathleen Burns, a toxicologist who reviewed test results for Empire State Consumer Association, which has been evaluating toy safety since 1971. The laboratory test results documented small beads on the bracelet contained 227,000 parts per million of cadmium.
The Chinese-made bracelet was sold at Dollar Tree under the “Sassy Chic” brand name. According to the package, its item number is 873089 and it is distributed by Greenbrier International Inc. of Chesapeake, Va.
The U.S. Environmental Protective Agency’s standard for cadmium in drinking water is less than 1 part per million. And European law bans electronic products containing more than 100 parts per million of cadmium.
Cadmium is a toxic metal that can cause cancer, birth defects and damage to the reproductive system. Like lead, cadmium builds up in the body over time, causing cumulative damage, and is harmful even in low concentrations.
Dr. David O. Carpenter of the Institute for Health & the Environment at the University at Albany-SUNY said the toy that’s nearly 25 percent cadmium “raises a new public health threat.”
“The presence of such a high concentration of cadmium in a small bead that can be easily swallowed is clearly very dangerous. As with lead in toys and children's jewelry, attention needs to be given to the content of other toxic metals," Carpenter said.
Dr. Burns, director of the Massachusetts-based Sciencecorps, said, “Cadmium is a widely recognized hazardous metal that isn’t necessary in toys and shouldn’t be there. It can harm the workers who make the toys, children who play with them, and contaminate the area where the toys are disposed of.”
Gerard added, “What makes me even angrier is the inaction of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which instead of working to immediately recall this product gave the Empire State Consumer Association a bureaucratic run around when they tried to report this disturbing discovery. How many more toxic toys have to end up on our store shelves and in the hands of our kids and grandkids before our government stops protecting big business and does something about this crisis?”
Judy Braiman, founder of the Empire State Consumer Association, tried to alert the CPSC about the cadmium finding and was told she could submit the results, but that the agency does not test for cadmium or consider it as toxic as lead. In fact it is very toxic, and the EPA has a limit on cadmium that is three times more stringent than the limit on lead in drinking water. Past cadmium poisoning incidents indicate that only a quarter of a gram may be fatal in child. Further analysis is necessary to determine the harm that could result from consuming the toy bracelet.
Braiman’s group today filed a complaint with the New York Attorney General’s Office and hopes to have the product immediately recalled. “I’m extremely angry because our government is very negligent in carrying out their responsibilities to protect people. Businesses must ensure the safety of their products and be held accountable for unsafe products. We should be making more children’s products in the United States,” Braiman said.
Burns said failures at the CPSC and the Centers for Disease Control to regulate product safety is a “near breakdown of public health protections from hazardous products. I hope that every one who cares about children will demand action on this public health problem.”
Since its launch in September, the USW’s “Stop Toxic Imports” campaign has helped hundreds of families screen toys and other products for lead. The campaign also aims to spread awareness about the toxic trade cycle that is endangering children and threatening jobs. More information is available at www.stoptoxicimports.org.
The USW represents 850,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada employed in the industries of metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining and the service sector. For more information: www.usw.org/
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In lieu of federal action, health organizations are testing children’s products to assess lead and other hazards. Last week a toy with 23% cadmium (by weight) in small easily ingested beads was identified and composition was confirmed on retest. Other metals included lead, arsenic, chromium, manganese, vanadium, and thallium, though in smaller quantities. CPSC was unresponsive to my call and to a call by the director of the organization that sponsored the testing and has supplied the Agency with results used as the basis for product recalls over the last 30 years. The USW was responsive and their press release below gives product details.
Minimal NLM, CDC, or Poison Control data are available on oral acute toxicity, but the lethal dose appears to be approximately 25 mg/kg (less than one quarter of a gram for a small child). The cadmium in a single bead may pose an acute toxicity risk, depending on bioavailability (which cannot be readily determined) and other factors. The CDC’s long-term exposure MRL is 0.0002 mg/kg (maximum two millionths of a gram per day for a 10 kg child). Cadmium accumulates in the body and damages multiple organ systems, most prominently the kidneys (proximal tubules). Extensive data are available on moderate to low level cadmium exposure effects via NLM and summary publications. We have some recent publications not accessible through NLM, including WHO’s 2003 review, and an EU report on the toxicity and bioavailability of elements in toys - provided on request. Testing methods and results also supplied if you are working on this problem.
We don’t know how many products contain cadmium or other highly toxic metals, since cadmium testing began recently and there is not broad chemical screening of toys. Agressive international actions have reduced cadmium use and controlled its distribution so that availability has declined in most areas. But it remains available as a byproduct of zinc mining and component of waste shipped to Asia and Africa for scrap recycling.
This posting is both an alert and request for information unavailable via standard publications:
- poisoning reports with quantified oral exposures (not already published)
- current paths of cadmium entry into the stream of commerce
- other reports of cadmium in toys or inadvertently in consumer products (e.g., not in pigments or batteries)
If you send information, please specify whether it can be made public. Collaboration on testing and evaluation is welcome. This is currently being done without any funding, but with the help of an accredited lab that offers discounted testing to nonprofits.
Kathleen Burns, Ph.D.
Director, Sciencecorps
Lexington, Massachusetts, USA
[email protected]www.sciencecorps.org
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