Lead from China is the least of our worries

Posted on December 4, 2007. Written by Thomas

As I listened to an NPR presidential debate today, Democratic candidates fell over themselves blaming China for just about everything wrong with the US. In particular, their constant references to the “Chinese poisoning our kids” rang hypocritical, especially when compared with the continued obstruction of chemical safety regulation by our government and corporations.

In a recent Harper’s article, Mark Shapiro chronicles the chemical lobby’s gutting of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), and the US government’s continued badgering and undermining of the EU’s attempts to protect people from dangerous chemicals.

In 1976, the United States passed the first bill anywhere to regulate the safety of chemicals. While this was a potentially revolutionary act, it was undermined by chemical industry lobbying that fought for an exemption for 62,000+ chemicals that were already in use. Today, that means that only 5% of chemicals in products we consume and are exposed to have been tested for safety.

In a disturbing study from 2005, the World Wildlife Fund tested three generations of European woman. As you might expect, the oldest generation had the highest level of chemicals in their blood. However, in a close second was the youngest group-their grandchildren. This generation, on average, had 59 different toxic chemicals in their blood.

When the European Union moved to test and regulate the huge quantity of untested chemicals because of this study and others, the US has used its muscle to block any attempt to do so.

Furthermore, US toy companies are quick to scapegoat China for their own errors. In their drive for profit, they turn a blind-eye to dangerous design flaws, not to mention safety and workers’ rights in production abroad. And in one of the largest recalls, Mattel apologized to the Chinese government after it turned out their was not high levels of lead in the toys and the recall was because of US-side design flaws. A recent study by Hari Bapuji and Paul W. Beamish concluded,

…that the number of recalls and the number of recalls of Chinese-made toys have shown an upward trend. However, an examination of the reasons for the increase shows that the number of defects related to design issues attributable to the company ordering the toys is far higher than those caused by manufacturing problems in China.

A recent NPR report (I couldn’t find the link) mentioned, in passing, that many of the workers at a particular Chinese toy factory had no idea that the products they were making contained lead. And why would they? Management certainly doesn’t want them to know that they are inhaling toxic fumes on a daily basis. Although we view China as a monolithic, repressive state, workers‘ and peasant struggles occur, often over environmental issues. Supporting workers’ rights in China and other places our toys and clothes are made would go a long way to making them safer. Strong, independent trade unions would be a first-line defense against toxic chemicals.

If we’re serious about toy and product safety for our children, we should pay attention to what happens in China. Perhaps more importantly, though, are the chemicals that our government doesn’t want to test, for fear of hurting chemical companies’ profits. We should demand that the NSCA is strengthened, that EU chemical legislation is not gutted, and that Chinese workers are able to freely organize for safer workplaces.

Tags: Chemical lobby, China, debate, democrats, European Union, National public radio, NPR, recall, Toxic Inaction, Toxic Substances Control Act, toys, TSCA

Posted in Corporations, Health & medicine, International politics, US politics