Vinyl Lunch Boxes Found To Contain Lead

I've said it before: anything made of vinyl is bad news. The Center for Environmental Health (CEH), based in Calfornia, announced that is filling lawsuits against retailers of soft vinyl lunch boxes that can expose children to harmful levels of lead. The companies include: Toys “R” Us, Warner Brothers, DC Comics, Time Warner, Walgreens, and others. The level of lead in one lunch box, an Angela Anaconda box made by Targus International, tested as having 90 times the limit for lead in paint in children’s products.

It is not possible to tell by appearance whether a vinyl lunch box may contain lead, so CEH is advising parents to avoid vinyl lunch boxes altogether. "Parents may need to seek out alternatives, since many mass produced lunch boxes are vinyl or vinyl-lined," said Green. "A reusable cloth bag would be a good alternative." Parents can find information on how to test for lead in their children’s lunch boxes at home by going to the CEH web site.

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