State Handed Out Lead-Tainted Lunch Boxes

In a sad commentary on a sad story, the state that has the most aggressive environmental protection laws in the country was handing out canvas lunch boxes that were loaded with poisonous lead.

This just exemplifies how far adrift consumer product safety is. The government ought to be a watchdog, ensuring that products entering the United States meet our standards, and that companies dealing with overseas suppliers are held to those same standards. Instead, lead -- which was banned in most uses in the U.S. three decades ago because exposure can lead to permanent brain damage, or even death -- keeps showing up in toys, jewelry and now lunch boxes handed out by the government, no less.

The message California was trying to send: That kids need healthy, nutritious lunches, is a sound one. It's all the more important if kids are being exposed to lead. Dark leafy greens, milk and other iron and calcium-rich foods can blunt the impact of lead poisoning by preventing the body from absorbing as much of the poison.

Let's hope those kids using the leaded totes got that message loud and clear, and that they toss those tainted lunch boxes quick.

COMMENTS ()