EcoWaste warns public vs toxic school supplies

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MANILA –EcoWaste Coalition on Thursday warned the public against buying school supplies that contain hazardous toxic subsstance such as lead and cadmium.

In a press briefing in Quezon City, Thony Dizon, EcoWaste Chemical Safety Campaigner, said that laboratory tests they conducted showed the presence of toxic materials in products like crayons, water-colour sets, backpacks, and raincoats among others.

“School supplies should not pose toxic health risks to the young users,” said Dizon.

Dizon said that since children have the tendency to put their fingers or objects to their mouths, the possibility of ingest such toxic substance is not far.

He said that laboratory tests revealed that Artex Fine Water Colors (yellow cake), MPC Classique Water Colors (yellow cake), and Fairyland Crayons (orange stick) had 22,300, 5,500 and 200 parts per million (ppm) of lead.

He added that the content of lead in those products are way above the 90 ppm regulatory limit.

“In addition, McQueen backpack and a “Ben 10” polyvinyl chloride (PVC) raincoat were found to be containing 500 and 190 ppm of lead, respectively.

Presence of cadmium were also seen in backpacks with “Frozen” and “Hello Kitty” ,” he said citing that said products yielded 970 and 780 ppm, respectively ,exceeding the 95 ppm limit.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cadmium and lead are listed as among the “10 chemicals of major public health concern” as they are highly hazardous and can generate a wide range of negative health effects, especially among children.

In particular, cadmium is found to exert toxic effects on the kidneys, the skeletal and respiratory systems, and is classified as a human carcinogen.

It also said that lead is a cumulative toxicant that affects multiple body systems with children particularly vulnerable to its neurotoxic effects and irreversible neurological damage.