Trade policies that lead to a disregard for our health and well being have affected more than what we feed our dogs. The addition of melanonin may be affecting human food as well, read about it in Barry Welsh's excellent diary here.
This brought to mind a warning my husband brought home recently about jewelry that is being marketed to children that contains dangerous levels of lead from China. At first I thought this would only be the case for jewelry from the dollar store, surely retailers of "quality" products that we pay extra for would not resort to products that contain poisonous materials. Well, I found out that I was wrong.
Let's reflect a moment on what we know about lead poisoning.
Although lead can be dangerous to people of any age, it is especially toxic to children under the age of 5. Experts believe younger kids are more susceptible because their brains and bodies are still quickly developing.
Young children are also at greater risk of exposure because they tend to put objects and their hands into their mouths frequently. Lead typically enters the body when a contaminated item comes into direct contact with the mouth. That item could be a lead-containing object (like jewelry) or a child's hand after she has touched the jewelry.
In children, lead poisoning is linked to lower IQs, learning disabilities, and general neurological problems. In adults, lead can cause numerous problems from high blood pressure to inability to concentrate or even decreased fertility.
http://www.bellaonline.com/...
And, in recent news, this:
Reebok Recalls Bracelet Linked to Child’s Lead Poisoning Death
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.
Name of Product: Reebok Heart-Shaped Charm Bracelets
Units: About 300,000
Importer: Reebok International Ltd., of Canton, Mass.
Hazard: The recalled jewelry contains high levels of lead, posing a risk of lead poisoning and adverse health effects to young children.
Incidents/Injuries: Reebok has received a report of a death caused by lead poisoning of a 4-year-old child from Minneapolis, Minn. The child reportedly swallowed a piece from one of these bracelets.
Description: The recall involves an 8-inch long metal bracelet with a heart-shaped charm. The name "Reebok" is engraved on the one side of the charm. The charm bracelet was provided as a free gift with the purchase of various styles of children’s footwear.
Sold at: Major shoe stores nationwide from May 2004 through March 2006. The manufacturer’s retail price of the shoes ranged between $33 and $50.
Manufactured in: China
Remedy: Consumers should immediately take the charm bracelets away from children and dispose of the entire bracelet.
Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Reebok at (800) 994-6260 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit Reebok’s Web site at www.reebok.com
http://www.cpsc.gov/...
When I was growing up in the 70's I still remember an ad campaign to rid homes of lead paint and you can't get a house to pass inspection in my neighborhood if it is on your walls. I think many assume that we live in an advanced society that values the lives of our children and that we are protected from the outdated threat of lead. However, like many of our other basic rights and societal norms for health and well-being, the neo-con free market ideaologues have taken action through negligent trade policies that unravel the progress we have made in protecting ourselves from poison, this time in an absolutely overt way.
How much longer do we stand for these outrages? We can't even be sure that the products we buy for our children are free of lead and non-poisonous anymore. Even brand name items are potentially hazardous. Look at the names on this list, and note that the majority of the products are manufactured in China. (And these are only the last 14 recalls!):
Product Recall
Visit CPSC Site for images, details, more information
Children’s Bracelets Recalled by DM Merchandising Due to Lead Poisoning Hazard
http://www.cpsc.gov/...
Children’s Rings Recalled by Shalom International Due to Lead Poisoning Hazard
http://www.cpsc.gov/...
U.S. Toy Co. Recalls More Children’s Butterfly Necklaces Due to Lead Poisoning http://www.cpsc.gov/...
Children’s necklaces recalled due to lead poisoning hazard http://www.cpsc.gov/...
Juicy Couture Children’s Jewelry Recalled for Lead Poisoning Hazard
http://www.cpsc.gov/...
Metal Charms sold with 20th Century Fox DVDs Recalled for Toxic Lead Hazard
http://www.cpsc.gov/...
Children’s Necklaces Recalled for Lead Poisoning Hazard
http://www.cpsc.gov/...
Reebok Recalls Bracelet Linked to Child’s Lead Poisoning Death
http://www.cpsc.gov/...
Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. Toy Jewelry Recalled for Lead Poisoning Hazard to Children
http://www.cpsc.gov/...
Lead Poisoning Hazard Prompts Recall of Metal Charm Bracelets
http://www.cpsc.gov/...
Children’s Jewelry Sold at American Girl Stores Recalled for Lead Poisoning Hazard
http://www.cpsc.gov/...
Metal Charms Recalled for Lead Poisoning Hazard to Children
http://www.cpsc.gov/...
Stravina Operating Co Recall of Children’s Metal Necklaces and Zipper Pulls
http://www.cpsc.gov/...
Dollar General Corp. Recall of Costume Jewelry
http://www.cpsc.gov/...
Monogram International Inc Recall of Bracelet Keyrings
http://www.cpsc.gov/...
Dollar General Corp. Recall of Metal heart-Shaped Pendants
http://www.cpsc.gov/...
Raymond Geddes Co. Recall of Children’s Necklaces
http://www.cpsc.gov/...
http://www.leadsafe.org/...
Aren't the Republicans supposed to abhor Communism for this very reason? Are these the conditions we have "traded" our ethics for?:
Children residing in industrial and busy traffic areas had average blood lead levels(BPb) of 21.8-67.9 mu g/dl. The percentages of BPb values above 10 mu g/dl, which is the definition of lead poisoning in children, ranged from 64.9% to 99.5%. Even for 'unexposed' children, about 50% of them had BPb values above 10 mu g/dl. Furthermore, several retrospective pilot studies were conducted in Shanghai, Shenyang, Fuzhou and Beijing to evaluate the health effects of lead at current degree of exposure. The link between low-level lead exposure and deficits in IQ, neurobehavioral development and physical growth is remarkably consistent without exception. In summary, the harmful health effects of childhood lead poisoning in limited studies of exposed and 'unexposed' children demonstrate that this totally preventable disease warrants considerable public health attention in China.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...
What happened to "promote the general welfare." We need to think seriously about this:
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
How much more will we allow to be chiselled away? Now we are allowing poison to reach our babes in the name of making a buck? This from the party of "family values?"
We have suffered many attacks to our nation's value for human rights. We are in an illegal and unjust war in which the poorest among us are sent to die. We are ignoring the genocide in Darfur. We are backing military solutions over diplomacy in our own nation and around the world. We are living in a society in which some of us are denying basic Science and undoing the Age of Enlightenment altogether toward our own destruction. We are watching the destruction of the very planet we live on. We are living with trade agreements that turn a blind eye to human and worker rights, and an immigration policy that ignores the rights of the worker. Seven years under this administration has irreparably damaged the environment we live in. Lies and deception are prevalent and tolerable as a form of government in our nation. How much more will we be expected to tolerate? It is clear we cannot trust this administration or many Republicans in Congress to provide for the general welfare of we the people. Will the rest of Congress finally do the right thing? Are we expected to accept that we will allow the overt poisoning of our children without regulation?
The CDC is busy testing immigrant children for lead poisoning to meet their stated goal of eliminating elevated blood lead levels in children by 2010. (How many of us were aware this was even still a problem?)
http://www.cdc.gov/...
Why isn't their priority the import of poisonous products containing lead, rather than the occasional retroactive recall of these products?
In the grand scope of the political game, this issue will probably never register. I, as a parent and educator, and ashamed for our country, and bitter. We should all register our outrage. I think this symptom of our nation's neocon madness indicates a huge disease in our trade policies. I'm hoping this community will write their representatives and get it the light it deserves. What could possibly be worse than this new low? I'm already sorry I asked that question.
