Now that I’m looking, no, I don’t seem to have a site. A friend who is usually quite knowledgeable about things like this told me it was so; but since I’m not seeing anything it probably isn’t. Unless someone else can come up with something, I’ll consider myself corrected.
I’m pretty sure that the California hotels I’ve stayed in all had Prop 65 warning signs. And I don’t mean lead abatement emergency temporary signs, I mean preprinted plaques affixed to the wall that were probably ordered from a government agency or something. Apparently everything has lead in it.
If only the enviromental wackos (as opposed to the reasonable environmentalists) would realize excessive crap like this actually does more harm than good. Highlight the stuff that has lots of lead it so people can know. Work to lower lead levels through reasonable measures.
Warnings that everything has LEAD! in it just scares people and doesnt enable them to do a damn thing to lower their exposure at the same time.
Bulk sea transport is cheap because (fuel / km)/kg is incredibly low for a large ship.
It might be extra cheap to ship things to China because the containers are needed for export, but when you’re shipping raw materials one way and product the other, you might not get the benefit of those rates.
I chose China as an example as Norwegian fish has been sent to the EU market via processing plants there.
Oh, and yes. Prop 65 is ridiculously strict.
No
The Children’s Health and Disabilities Prevention program guidelines state that there is no known safe level for blood lead values. CHDP requires blood testing for lead at 12 and 24 months of age for California children followed by the MediCal program. I work for an agency that serves over 3,000 California central valley children between the ages of 2 and 5. From low income families; the most likely group to experience lead poisoning because of housing, food and hygiene issues. The CDC considers blood lead levels negatively impacting physical and mental function at 10 ug/dcl.
That said, consider that of the 3000+ children that I help serve, nearly all of those have blood lead levels of less than 2. Yes, there are measurable amounts of lead in their systems. No, they are not considered poisoned. Yes, we should try to prevent more exposure to absorbing lead as much as we can. Foods manufactured in other countries have been wrapped in lead-based paint decorated wrappers. Buildings painted before 1970 may chip off lead-based paint.
If parents worry about lead levels, have that child tested. Venous draws are most accurate.
Cyn, RN
Thank you, Cyn! I tried to PM you directly, but the system wouldn’t let me find your username; perhaps your PMs are turned off.
So…upshot? Should I avoid these things like the plague, or can I use them in moderation without too much worry? To quantify, I’d define “moderation” as one serving per week on average. In reality, it’s more like two or three fruit cups one week and then none for two or three weeks, but that’s math for ya.
(Juice is a holiday treat in our home. Juice boxes are gifts from heaven in my child’s eyes, and rare as hen’s teeth because I let her have them so rarely!)