Posted on 05/06/2007 4:13:48 PM PDT by mom4kittys
Arlington Heights resident Julie Furer said she bought vinyl-backed bibs for 3-month-old son Jensen because they stopped the drool from leaking through.
Previously, Jensen, who turns 1 today, had been using cloth bibs, but they had proved ineffective.
“I called him Waterfall. That was my nickname for him,” said Julie Furer’s mother, Mount Prospect resident Marilyn Furer. “He would be soaking wet, because he was just constantly drooling.”
Jensen would also put the bib in his mouth when he was hungry, something that came to Marilyn Furer’s attention when he started using the vinyl-backed bibs.
It caused Marilyn to think back to reports she had heard of lead being found in plastic school lunch boxes.
“So there I think, hmmm, plastic in the mouth, plastic in school lunch boxes. What the heck, I’ll just go get a (lead testing) kit just to play it safe. I never thought it would come out like that.”
Using a household lead test kit produced by Homax Products Inc., she crushed the two points on the barrel of the testing swab, shook the swab and squeezed it until a yellow liquid appeared on the tip. Then she rubbed the swab tip on the test area. To her surprise, the swab tip turned pink, indicating the presence of lead. She wound up testing 20 bibs, with eight of them yielding a positive result.
She sent the bibs, which were made in China and sold at Wal-Mart, to the Center for Environmental Health in Oakland, Calif., which had done the research on the lunch boxes.
Testing commissioned by the center revealed that one of the Baby Connection brand vinyl bibs, which were sold exclusively at Wal-Mart stores, had a lead level of 9,700 parts per million, more than 16 times greater than the legal limit for lead in paint.
The bibs were later tested in Illinois and New York, revealing similarly high levels, with the result that Wal-Mart has stopped selling the bibs in those states indefinitely. In addition, the Illinois attorney general announced a statewide recall of the Wal-Mart bibs.
“These vinyl bibs pose a lead poisoning threat to infants and toddlers who are at the most vulnerable age,” said Caroline Cox, research director at the Center for Environmental Health and author of a report on lead in baby bibs released by the center this week. “As every parent knows, young children commonly chew and suck on their bibs, so if the bib is contaminated, children are being directly exposed to lead.”
For Marilyn Furer, it wasn’t the first time her activism had produced results. When her daughter Julie, Jensen’s mom, was 18 months old, she was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. In 1973, Marilyn, along with a small group of concerned parents, founded the first chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (now known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) in Illinois.
“She ran the whole organization as president out of our house in Mount Prospect,” Julie Furer said.
Marilyn Furer is calling for a national ban on lead-based products used by infants and children.
“As far as I’m concerned, any trace amount is unacceptable,” she said.
One should be suspicious, she said, of any product that uses plastic. “If it can’t be made without lead, it shouldn’t be made. People should use the double cloth bibs or buy wooden toys.”
Above all, she said, one should buy American and be suspicious of imports, especially from China.
Also, she said parents should get their children tested for lead.
Marilyn Furer said it is nice to hear that people are proud of her for bringing the issue to light, but is surprised it wasn’t thought of before. “I’m disappointed and disillusioned that our public, governmental agencies haven’t had in place already something that stops these kinds of things from coming on in the first place.”
I suppose we should ban trade within the US too, every time an American-made product is recalled.
B. Don’t sell your sh*t here.
In the 1950s & 1960s, many people, including my grandparents & even some teachers, referred to The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as “Russia” in daily speech, myself included.
“Russia put a man into space”; “Russia threatened Eastern Bloc countries with...”.
May have had a lot to do with Russia being the lead dog “republic” of the USSR.
They aren’t deliberately trying to poison us you fool.
I totally agree. They're just backwards. That's the point: if we trade with the third world at the expense of our own standards, this is what we can always expect.
But the globalists on Wall Street don't care about that. They're only in it for the money. When selling out America, the profits just keep rolling in. And that's no surprise: America is the most valuable thing in the history of mankind. Of course selling us out will make someone a mint.
Eating off of plastic is pretty toxic too. Chinaware made in Japan or the US is most likely safe! I just remembered we went to a garage sale yesterday and got a large set of porcelain plates, a few cups and small plates for $10, made in Japan. I’m sure it’s safe. Lead hasn’t been used in glazes for a long time in civilized countries.
Still, I want to get one of those lead testing kits.
Well my response to billybudd was that he suggested we should ban trade within the US too, every time an American-made product is recalled.
I believe China is DELIBERATELY poisoning us for profit ny adulterating food products (and other products as well). When we have a recall in the U.S, it is usually ecoli or salmonella which is primarily accidental or negligence. Huge difference.
Where do you get these kits?
ping
I don’t believe they’re doing it on purpose, but I respect your views, mom. You might not be wrong. But in America, we have laws and recourse. The FDA/FTA do go into action when they must (in fact, they sometimes have to be restrained). This is what living in a western country affords us. Dealing with China (and any other third world hovel) sometimes puts us in cahoots with rogues. In China’s case, they’re putting our profits to work building weapons they plan to use against us. But the free traders don’t care about that. There’s money to be made!
Gee, it’s so cosy here in America. I wonder why?
We have a much higher standard of living than most countries, and the highest standard in the history of human civiilization.
I wonder why...
Hmmm, it must be because our way is the best, and in this meritocracy called the Universe, we’re number one. Ya think?
Or maybe it’s through no merit of our own, or because we’re willing to look the other way in order to absorb the wealth and work of those poorer than us.
What’s the matter, America, aren’t you willing to pay a couple of extra dollars for a few household items so we can make sure they’re made safely?
frightening is right. i noticed that lead is also part of some fishing sures and at least two fish scales. couldn’t figure out why. why in a scale i asked. now i may know the reason why. who said china is not at war with us.
They deliberately put melamoine in the wheat gluten to increase their profit. It increases the nitrogen rate or something like that. The higher the nitrogen—the more money they make.
Also, they use antiobiotics and other drugs that they know are illegal here in the seafood they import. Alabama has banned chinese seafood imports.
Thanks For Your Great Pings & I Appreciate You mom4kittys :)
Lead test kits:
Obviously you haven’t been following the situation or you wouldn’t have made such uninformed remarks. There are plenty of articles to look up on FR—do your homework.
Thank you!
You’re welcome. I’m glad to do it!
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