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get the lead out
In honor of the first day of school here in Concord, a post about lunchboxes.
I really had an Atom Ant lunchbox. Why I picked this one, and not, say, Barbie in 1966 when I headed off to kindergarten will remain forever a mystery. I’d like to think it’s because I was too cool for Barbie. More likely it was on sale.
On the one hand, the old metal lunchboxes had their drawbacks: they were heavy, prone to rusting (especially the bockety snap closures) and the glass lined thermoses rarely lasted through the month of September.
But what they didn’t have was lead.
Unlike the soft-sided vinyl lunchboxes that my kids bring to school each day. It turns out that a group very concerned with the levels of toxins in our environment, the Center for Environmental Health has tested a few hundred vinyl lunch boxes and have found that they can contain lead. According to Snopes.com, the levels of lead found were low, but still. I am sending in lunch because I question the nutritional value of Batman Hotpockets. Which are most likely better than lead- laden peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from home.
According to Snopes.com, the amount of lead in the tested lunchboxes is fairly low; a child would have to rub his hands on the box and then lick them, about 100 times a day for 15-30 days for there to be a health hazard. Ok even my boys couldn’t be dared into that one. But lead poisoning is cumulative, so for children who live in old homes with traces of lead based paint, it is worth a second thought.
It is possible to use a home testing kit on lunchboxes. It is also possible to check manufacturers’ websites to see if they have taken a lead-free pledge.
Maybe we should be scanning e-bay for some relics.