Your food may be safe, but not your table cover

Be careful what you put on your dining table. This applies not just to the food but the tablecloth as well.

A toxic watch group on Tuesday warned that some table covers it bought from markets in Manila tested positive for high levels of lead and another toxic material.

Using a portable X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometer, EcoWaste Coalition analyzed 15 samples mostly made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) it recently bought from vendors in Quiapo, Divisoria and Paco.

“We tested plastic table covers as part of our campaign to inform consumers about chemicals in products that are enjoying good sales during the holiday shopping season,” EcoWaste Coalition Project Protect coordinator Thony Dizon said.

Based on the results, 11 tested positive for high levels of lead and cadmium, which pose a danger to people’s health.

These two chemicals are often used as stabilizers in PVC products as well as pigments to make the items more colorful.

“Lead impacts brain development, causing learning and developmental problems, including decreased IQ scores, shorter attention spans and delayed learning,” EcoWaste warned.

Dizon said that the toxic chemicals from the table covers may “leach out over time into the air, contaminate the surroundings and get absorbed into the household dust that vulnerable children may breathe in or ingest.”

He added: “Worn or tattered PVC table covers are often disposed [of along] with regular garbage and [are] either burned or dumped, dispersing their toxic ingredients into the environment.”

He noted that aside from Noche Buena and Media Noche essentials, many buy plastic table covers or “mantel” to replace old and worn-out ones and add cheer to holiday meals.

As a precaution, the group advised the public to use cloth or non-PVC table covers as safe alternatives to those made of plastic.