Protecting Families From Lead

Keeping our children healthy and safe is my motivation in pushing for reasonable, common sense actions to protect consumers.

Utahns are concerned about the safety of the products in our homes—particularly when it comes to lead in toys or dinnerware.   Recalls of millions of toys because of dangers to kids from lead paint or tiny magnets that could be swallowed are disturbing.  Many of these products—most notably toys are now made overseas and there are concerns that the Consumer Product Safety Commission is not doing enough to alert the public.

Exposure to lead in children under age six—and to pregnant women—is a grave health threat.  Lead is a powerful neurotoxin that interferes with the development of the brain and the central nervous system in young children.  There is a widespread recognition that there is no such thing as a “safe” level of lead exposure. That is why I supported a ban on lead in products used by children; expanding to age 12 the requirement for mandatory testing and certification for children’s products and strengthening the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) so it notifies the public more quickly. At the same time, I supported a decision by CPSC to delay enforcement for certain testing requirements of products until February 2010, so that clear guidelines could be given to small business owners who are re-sellers of children’s products.

I successfully amended the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 to include the requirement of a warning label for ceramic dishes and other food containers about possible lead content.  Tests by Utah health department labs have shown lead content in dishes exceeds the federal standard.  Nursing mothers who prepared and ate food using those dishes inadvertently passed it on to their babies, causing lead poisoning.  Utah families deserve to know what they may be buying in order to make informed choices about what products they use in their homes. I also succeeded with a requirement for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to set up an educational program on its website to further educate consumers about safety issues involving lead in dishware.