More Delicious Lead Found In Chinese-Made Drinking Glasses

Ah, China.  Builders of the Great Wall, creators of a pictographic language used in countless American back tattoos, and, apparently, producers of the most horribly toxic export products in the world.

Yes, they’re at it again, this time with decorative glasses marketed to kids.  You know those fun, brightly colored glasses with likenesses of Wonder Woman, Spider Man, Shrek, and so on?  Turns out, a lot of what makes those colors so pretty is lead and cadmium.

A lot of people have heard of the health dangers of lead, but cadmium is actually more dangerous.  Of course, that doesn’t stop manufacturers from continuing to use these materials, because after all, kids love bright colors and profits are profits.

The Associated Press actually commissioned their own testing of a bunch of these glasses and found some disturbing results.  How disturbing?  How about lead at 1,000 times the legal limit?  Some of the decorative enamel on these glasses clocked in at THIRTY PERCENT LEAD.

These weren’t knock-off or rare brands, either.  McDonald’s, Burger King, Coca-Cola, Disney… major brands, millions of drinking glasses with potentially dangerous levels of lead and cadmium.

The AP took a bunch of glasses ranging from decades-old to new and found that some of these glasses “shed” lead and cadmium at levels that may not make a child keel over immediately, but certainly could create problems with repeated exposure.  By “shed”, they meant particles of lead or cadmium that came off of the glass due to touching it repeatedly.

Be careful out there, parents.  You can’t trust manufacturers to police themselves, so be wary when buying decorative glassware or plastic items, especially if they’re fire engine red (that’s what cadmium is used for).

Source article:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40309111/ns/health-kids_and_parenting