Coloured fashion goods loaded with lead

OAKLAND: From cheerful red handbags to festive green belts, coloured accessories are often mandatory for the style-conscious during the holiday season. But what many fashionistas don't know is that many of these products may be tainted with high levels of lead — and the brighter and shinier they are, the greater the risk.

Accessories in red, green, yellow and orange are more likely to be contaminated than those in darker or more muted colours, new tests show. Use of lead salts to create these brilliant hues — a practice that dates to the Middle Ages — is common in the manufacture of inexpensive vinyl and plastic products. Some experts fear the abundant lead in the colourful outer layer of these products may leave tiny, invisible particles on the hands, which may end up in food and drink. "Lead is a cumulative burden — we tend to store it very well," said Dr Bruce Lanphear, an expert on lead contamination.

Even at very low levels, it has been linked to nervous system damage, cardiovascular problems, kidney failure and other health problems.

For the past three years, the Centre for Environmental Health in Oakland, Calif., has been checking accessories sold at retail stores and online for lead contamination. Retailers agreed to the testing in a settlement following a 2010 lawsuit filed by the center regarding toxic metals in accessories.

That settlement sets a safety limit of 300 ppm of lead in leather goods and 200ppm in vinyl products. If a product contains lead above those levels, the retailer may pay a penalty of up to $10,000; the money goes into a fund that pays for further testing.

The centre found no violations of the lead standards at retailers such as Target, H&M, Guess, and J Crew.

Still, the centre did find consistent lead contamination in purses, belts and shoes which were sold to budget-conscious teenagers and young women. Some, including Wet Seal, Charlotte Russe and Forever 21, sold fashion accessories that contained more than 10,000 ppm of lead or higher. A pair of orange sandals topped 25,000 ppm, while a pair of red pumps registered above 30,000 ppm. Yellow belts approached 50,000 ppm.