And another one - coming from the Chinese side
Elizabeth O'Brien

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ralph Scott" <rscott@...>
To: <leadnet@...>
Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2007 2:09 AM
Subject: [Leadnet] "For Chinese children lead can be inescapable"


>From Scientific American.com today:
----------
August 03, 2007

For Chinese children lead can be inescapable
By Chris Buckley

BEIJING (Reuters) - Parents around the world may have been shocked this week
when 1.5 million Chinese-made Fisher-Price toys were recalled because of
excessive lead content, but for mums and dads in China lead poisoning is
just a fact of life.[snip]

But if Beijing was worried about Chinese children being affected, that was
not reflected in state-run media on Friday, which were silent about Mattel's
recall. [snip]

China has responded to rising consumer expectations by setting stricter
standards for lead in toys, most recently introducing new labeling rules.
But imposing those standards on the country's vast and fragmented toy sector
is difficult.

China makes 75 percent of the world's toys, according to the national
chamber of light industry, and many of the thousands of producers are small
and resistant to regulation.

They make cheap plastic, metal and wooden toys that -- if regular news
reports are a guide -- often have a lead content well above government-set
limits.

A 2005 report in a Beijing newspaper cited estimates that 60 percent of
Chinese-made toys used paint with lead above internationally accepted
limits.

The China Toy Association would not answer questions about the problem.
[snip]

Feng [Feng Guoqiang, a childhood development specialist at Peking
University's Health Science Centre] said that toys are not the biggest
threat. China has phased out leaded petrol, but house paint, old pipes and
buildings and belching factories are still big sources of lead.

A study of Chinese cities in 2004 found that 10.5 percent of children had
lead levels in their blood of at least 100 microgram's per liter -- a level
considered unhealthy by the World Health Organization. [snip]
----------
Full story, visit:
http://tinyurl.com/2zd75p
----------

Ralph Scott
Community Projects Director
Alliance for Healthy Homes
P.O. Box 75941
Washington, DC 20013
202-739-0881; rscott@...; www.afhh.org

Working for affordable healthy housing for all.

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