Oh Good, There's Lead In Your Christmas Lights

[Maraya1969]

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/12/christmas-lights-coated-with-toxic-chemicals-lead


Afraid so. It turns out that lead is applied to the polyvinylchloride (PVC) wire covering to keep the plastic from cracking. It's also a flame retardant. Not all brands are suspect, but an awful lot are. In a 2008 study published in the Journal of Environmental Health, researchers from Cornell University tested 10 light sets and found lead on all of them, at levels that surpassed the Environmental Protection Agency's limit for windowsills and floors.

Two other analyses in recent years, one by HealthyStuff.org and another done for CNN, produced similar results. The former, conducted in 2010, found that 54 percent of lights had more lead than regulators allow in children's products. Quantex, the company that did the lab work for CNN in 2007, found that the surface lead levels in each of the four types of lights it tested exceeded the Consumer Safety Commission's limit for children's products (which has since been reduced).


Isn't lead illegal, due to its well-known effects on human health, including damage to the brain and nervous system in children? Actually, it's only been banned from certain products, including paint and gasoline. The federal government restricts the amount of lead allowed on children's products and provides limits on acceptable lead levels in dust and soil, air and water, and waste through a variety of laws and regulations. At the state level, California requires a warning label on electrical cords that have more than 300 parts per million of lead. But selling Christmas lights coated in lead is perfectly legal.

[PDJane]

1. It's supposed to be, yes.

[Wilms]

2. ^

[MineralMan]

3. Kids! Don't eat the Christmas Lights!

This product safety tip brought to you by the EPA.

The funny thing is that there is lead in lots and lots of things, from the solder on the LED lights on those new, expensive strings of lights, to a wide range of stuff that is not designed for people to chew on or consume.

Does there need to be lead in the wires for Christmas lights? Probably not. Is chewing on those wires a big problem in the USA? No, it is not. If it were, the worry about getting electrocuted by chewing on them should be the real concern. I don't know of many parents who aren't aware that chewing on electrical cords is not a good idea for their children.

[Wilms]

4. Is dismissiveness some kind of medical condition?

Do a little reading. Solder to put LEDs on a cord?? I don't think so, but I could be wrong. Lead in solder? Not as often anymore. Look up RoHS. And about pouring milk over Christmas lights and eating it? No. That's not the issue.

Here's the Cliff Note: Wash your hands really well after handling those cords. As for the knee-jerk-oh-so-adult-like-dismissiveness, I'm not sure there's a cure.

[Maraya1969]

5. That is what I think. I wouldn' any little kids playing with these things.

Maybe it is not a large amount of lead that is exposed but combine that with the other items that contain lead and you've got a lot of lead.

And cats and dogs have been known to chew on these lights.