CONSUMER ALERT

MIKE COX

ATTORNEY GENERAL

The Attorney General provides Consumer Alerts to inform the public of unfair, misleading, or deceptive business practices, and to provide information and guidance on other issues of concern.

LEAD AND CHILDREN

National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week
October 23-29, 2005

LEAD AND HALLOWEEN COSTUMES

Kmart Corporation is selling "Totally Ghoul" Halloween products in Michigan and other states with the following warning label covered with black marker and tape:

Warning:  This product contains lead, a chemical known to

the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or

other reproductive harm.

Response of Sears Holding Corporation, Kmart's Parent Company

In response to questions regarding these products, Christian Brathwaite of Sears Holding Corporation,  Kmart's parent company, said the items were mislabeled and do not present a health risk.  Mr. Brathwaite indicates that lead tests were conducted and the products passed the test. When asked why the warnings were covered up, Brathwaite has been reported as stating:  "This is simply a mislabeling issue.  We covered over the labels because we determined that the warning labels were not needed.  We have no reason to believe that the products contain a dangerous level of lead.  If so, we would have pulled the products."

Michigan Attorney General Response

The Michigan Attorney General is concerned about public safety and the general confusion caused by the covered warning.  The Attorney General asked the Sears Holding Corporation for copies of the tests they ran and is evaluating the need for independent tests. 

The Attorney General continues to investigate the matter. 

WHY PRODUCTS HAVE A CALIFORNIA WARNING

California is the only state which may require warning labels if there is lead in a product.  Commonly knows as California's Proposition 65, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 requires "reasonable warning" before exposing consumers to a chemical "known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm."  A copy of California's Proposition 65 is available at www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65/law/P65law72003.html. 

For a complete list of the chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity, please refer to the California Office of the Attorney General's Web site at: http://caag.state.ca.us/prop65/chem.htm.

Lead is on this list.

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California Environmental Protection Agency has established safe harbor levels for some, but not all, listed chemicals. To view these levels, please visit OEHHA's Web site at www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65/pdf/Aug2005StatusReport.pdf.

Businesses that cause exposure greater than the safe harbor level must provide Proposition 65 warnings.  The warning must give clear and reasonable notice.

OEHHA's Web site also provides answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Proposition 65: http://www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65/p65faq.html.

WHAT IS LEAD?

Lead is a highly toxic metal that was used for many years in products found in and around our homes.  At lower levels of exposure, lead poisoning leads to hyperirritability, poor memory, and sluggishness.  At high levels, mental retardation, epileptic convulsions, coma, and even death may occur.

PRIMARY SOURCES OF EXPOSURE

Research suggests that the primary sources of lead exposure for most children are:

• deteriorating lead-based paint,

• lead contaminated dust, and

• lead contaminated residential soil.

Lead has been phased out of gasoline and reduced in drinking water and in industrial air pollution.  Lead has also been banned or limited in consumer products, including residential paint.

HOW DOES LEAD ENTER THE HUMAN BODY?

There are two pathways by which lead can enter the human body:  1) ingestion, and 2) inhalation.  Only a small percentage (between 5 and 10 percent) of the ingested lead passes from the intestinal tract into the bloodstream.  For children, the percentage is slightly higher.

Ingested Lead

• Foods exposed to lead can be a source of ingested lead, although scrubbing foods before eating them eliminates nearly all the dust.

• Drinking water that has passed through older lead pipes or lead solders can carry traces of lead.

• Children playing around soils with higher levels of lead will ingest some of the lead dust through activities such as sticking fingers in their mouths and even eating soils.  Again, the exposure level from such activity is slight except in contaminated areas.

• For children, the greatest source of ingested lead may be through eating paint chips in older homes or apartments.  Peeling and chipping paint can release lead dust.  Ingestion of lead paint chips can result in an intake 100 times the safe daily load for an adult.  At such a level, severe lead poisoning can occur.

Inhaled Lead

The second way lead dust can enter the body is through inhalation of gas, paint fumes, or soldering fumes.  Even though most lead has been removed from gasoline, nearly 98 percent of airborne lead is from gasoline emissions.  Although inhaled lead comprises a much smaller portion of exposure than ingested lead, between 30 and 50 percent of inhaled lead enters the bloodstream.  Inhalation is also a concern in occupational exposure areas.

CHILDREN VULNERABLE TO LEAD POISONING

Children are of special concern regarding lead poisoning for three major reasons.

• Children have a higher basal metabolic rate, which affects the absorption and metabolism of toxicants.

• Children have a different breathing zone than most adults in that they are closer to the ground or floor where lead is deposited.

• Children have rapid growth and differentiation of cells.  Because the nervous systems of children are still developing and their body masses are relatively small, lead concentrations have a greater impact on children than on most adults.

THE NATIONAL LEAD INFORMATION CENTER

Call 1-800-424-LEAD (424-5323) to learn more about how to protect children from lead poisoning and for other information on lead hazards.  To access lead information on the Internet, visit www.epa.gov/lead and www.hud.gov/offices/lead/.  For the hearing impaired, call the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877- 8339 and ask for the National Lead Information Center at 1-800-424-LEAD.

Lead Concern                 Federal Contact

Drinking water                   The Environmental Protection Agency, Safe

                                        Drinking Water Hotline, call 1-800-426-4791.

Consumer product             Consumer Product Safety Commission

                                        (CPSC) Hotline to request information on

                                        lead in consumer products, or to report

                                        an unsafe consumer product or a

                                        product-related injury, call 1-800-638-2772,

                                        or visit CPSC's Web site at: www.cpsc.gov.

Michigan is in the EPA's Region 5 (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin) and the appropriate regional contact is:

Regional Lead Contact
U.S. EPA Region 5 (DT-8J)
77 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60604-3666
(312) 886-6003

MICHIGAN LEAD INFORMATION

Michigan's 2004 Final Report of the Task Force to Eliminate Childhood Lead Poisoning is at:  http://www.michigan.gov/documents/lead_108767_7.pdf.  A priority recommendation of the report is for Michigan to assure the provision of service coordination/case management for children with elevated blood lead levels (EBLL) at or above 20 micrograms per deciliter of blood (µg/dL).

Michigan's Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention local health department contact information is available at:  http://www.bridges4kids.org/LeadContactsUpdated7-05.pdf

COMPLAINTS

Consumers who have any difficulty returning the Totally Ghoul products to Kmart are encouraged to contact the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division.  Complaints may be filed by contacting the Michigan Attorney General at:  

Consumer Protection Division
P. O. Box 30213
Lansing, MI 48909

517-373-1140
Fax: 517-241-3771

Toll free: 877-765-8388

www.michigan.gov/ag (online complaint form)