Parents warned on lead-tainted kids’ slippers

MANILA—An environmental group has found high levels of a brain-damaging chemical in children’s slippers that feature popular cartoon characters which are being sold by sidewalk vendors in Manila.

The EcoWaste Coalition tested 25 pairs of plastic and rubber slippers, which cost P20 to P65 each, bought last week from vendors at Lacson Underpass in Quiapo, Rizal Avenue in Sta. Cruz, Recto Avenue in Divisoria, M. Roxas Street in Sta. Ana and Pedro Gil in Ermita.

Chemical analysis showed that 18 pairs of plastic slippers contained high levels of lead that exceeded the 90 parts per million (ppm) limit set by the US Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

“Lead and other toxic ingredients in slippers can spread out into the surroundings as a result of normal wear and tear from their daily use,” Thony Dizon, coordinator of the group’s Project Protect, said in a statement.

He added that the chemical could get to a child’s hands and eventually into the mouth through house dust.  “Also, all of these leaded-slippers contain one or more toxic chemicals like antimony, arsenic, cadmium and chromium, above levels of concern,” he said.

While the plastic slippers had lead ranging from 542 to 2,391 ppm, which could come from paint coatings and lead stabilizer from PVC (polyvinyl chloride), “the good news is the rubber slippers we tested, which are equally affordable, attractive and colorful, had no detectable level of lead and other heavy metals, indicating that slippers could be made without using these toxic chemicals,” Dizon said.

Based on the investigation conducted by the EcoWaste Coalition, PVC plastic slippers would generally have a glossy coating, a coarse surface, a firmer sole, a strong chemical smell and would be a bit heavier.

Rubber slippers, on the other hand, would usually have less gleaming design, a smoother surface, a softer touch, a rubbery smell and a lighter weight.

Quoting a global study on plastic shoes by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation of which it took part, the EcoWaste Coalition said that “lead is one of the worst environmental toxins and can accumulate in the body, primarily in the skeleton where it can damage the bone marrow and impair the body’s formation of red blood cells.”Inquirer