Kris Kringle gifts may be bad for your health

An environmental watch group announced Sunday that it has found more hazardous substances in Kris Kringle or exchange gift items being sold at retail stores in Divisoria, Manila.

“As the Christmas shopping rush gets underway, we went back to Divisoria to check if there are more goods out there that might pose risks for consumers, especially babies and small children,” EcoWaste Coalition’s Project Protect coordinator Thony Dizon said.

He added that some of the things they bought from stores in the popular shopping district tested positive for toxic chemicals, which could affect a person’s health and well-being.

“To make matters worse, none of the items had proper labels, denying consumers [the] essential tools to make [an] informed choice and effective consumer redress,” Dizon said.

Among the gift items that tested positive for harmful chemicals were mugs with popular cartoon characters, school supplies and toys.

Lead, cadmium, arsenic

EcoWaste said that the 65 samples of common gift items bought in Divisoria that they tested contained high levels of lead, cadmium and arsenic. These three chemicals are included in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) top 10 list of chemicals of major public health concern.

The WHO earlier warned that exposure to these substances may cause serious and irreversible neurological damage, especially in children.

These findings prompted EcoWaste Coalition to advise buyers to be careful in purchasing gift items. The environment group instead urged the public to buy eco-friendly and properly labeled and registered products.

In its Christmas shopping tips, the group suggested that people “give gifts that grow and restore the environment such as plant and flower seeds or bulbs, kitchen herbs or tree saplings.”

“We also encourage buyers to patronize local products such as handicrafts made by indigenous and rural communities, jail detainees and the urban poor; nontoxic personal care items; organic products from health and wellness groups; reusable bags from women’s and environmental groups; and other gift items from charities and cooperatives,” it said in a statement.

Earlier, the group asked the public to celebrate the holidays in a simple manner in deference to the victims of Supertyphoon “Yolanda.”

“We’re not asking people to cast aside Christmas but to adopt a ‘Simpleng Pasko’ and find abundant joy in responding to the call for humanitarian help from the disaster survivors,” said Tin Vergara, EcoWaste Coalition’s zero waste campaigner.

“The money saved from lavish gifts, extravagant festivities and wasteful fireworks can be used to help Yolanda survivors reconstruct their homes and rebuild their lives,” she added.