“The Wizard of Oz" character Dorothy at ToyTestingLab, in Warwick, R.I. Purchased from a Warner Bros. Studios store in Burbank, Calif., in September, lead in the enamel on this glass was 770 times higher than the federal limit for children's products, according to testing commissioned by The Associated Press. It also contained relatively high levels of the even-more-dangerous cadmium, though there are no federal limits for that toxic metal in design surfaces.
Drinking glasses depicting comic book and movie characters such as Superman, Wonder Woman and the Tin Man from "The Wizard of Oz" exceed federal limits for lead in children's products by up to 1,000 times, according to laboratory testing commissioned by The Associated Press.
The decorative enamel on the superhero and Oz sets — made in
China and purchased at a Warner Brothers Studios store in
Burbank — contained between 16 percent and 30.2 percent lead. The federal limit on children's products is 0.03 percent.
The same glasses also contained relatively high levels of the even-more-dangerous cadmium, though there are no federal limits on that toxic metal in design surfaces. In separate testing to recreate regular handling, other glasses shed small but notable amounts of lead or cadmium from their decorations. Federal regulators have worried that toxic metals rubbing onto children's hands can get into their mouths. Among the brands on those glasses: Coca-Cola, Walt Disney, Burger King and McDonald's.
This Sept. 21, 2010 photo shows a drinking glass decorated with a Coca-Cola logo purchased from the online Coca-Cola store in September at ToyTestingLab, in Warwick, R.I. Wipe testing commissioned by The Associated Press showed this glass shed three times more cadmium from its red exterior than the amount of cadmium from any design in sets of Shrek glasses that McDonald's recalled in June. The Coca-Cola Co., which had been given AP's test results last week, announced Sunday evening that after retesting it was voluntarily recalling 88,000 glasses over concerns regarding the mainly red glass in a four-glass set.
The AP testing was part of the news organization's ongoing investigation into dangerous metals in children's products and was conducted in response to a recall by McDonald's of 12 million glasses this summer because cadmium escaped from designs depicting four characters in the latest "Shrek" movie.
Full Story here: http://www.google.com/gwt/x?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F9Q5EyJ
No comments:
Post a Comment