Lead in Consumer Products

Lead is a soft malleable metal that is a very dangerous and powerful neurotoxin that affects many parts of our bodies including the nervous system. There have been many studies involving lead exposure and toxicity and it has been found that lead exposure is associated with decreased intelligence, reduced short-term memory, reading disabilities, deficits in vocabulary, reduction in reaction time, fine motor skills, and hand–eye coordination. Very scary stuff! After removing lead from gasoline due to its toxic properties it is amazing but lead is still widely used in consumer products including costume jewelry, paint, children’s toys, lipstick and hair dyes. Since lead is a soft metal it is easily broken down and will rub off due to body contact so it will be readily absorbed in your skin and into your body where it will cause health issues.

In recent studies on lead in children’s toys it was found that the majority contained unsafe levels of lead in the paint used on the toy or the toy itself! Children are much more likely to ingest lead from their toys as they are apt to put the toys in their mouths where the lead will rub off and be ingested directly into their bodies. This is phenomenal! How can any civilized country allow toxic ingredients like lead to be in children’s products where the risk of ingestion is quite high?

But children are not the only ones who need to worry about lead in their products. Several years ago a study was conducted on the 10 leading lipsticks sold in the USA. It was found that 7 out of the 10 lipsticks contained high amounts of lead! As the name indicates lipstick is applied directly to your lips and a large portion of the lipstick will find its way into your body due it being broken down by saliva or friction from rubbing your lips together. One of the main issues with this is that the manufacturers are not required to include all the ingredients of their products on the packaging so consumers are left in the dark about what they are purchasing. Plus who would think that companies would use lead in the products that will be used by children and adults alike?

The US does have laws that regulate the amounts toxic chemicals used in consumer products including the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act of 2008 which lowered the amount of lead allowed in consumer products. But many of the products are manufactured in other countries that do not have our safety regulations and then imported into the US.

What can we do to help keep our children and ourselves safe from lead contamination?

-read the labels on ALL consumer products that you purchase. If the ingredients are not listed contact the company and request a complete product ingredients list. Avoid painted children’s products.

-remove the lead that has already been absorbed into your body. The most effective way to do this is with EDTA Chelation.

-contact your local representative and ask them to increase inspection on foreign products and lower the allowable level of lead in products manufactured in the US to 0.

It is amazing but lead is still a problem that we have to aware of and take steps to avoid being contaminated with. We all need to make sure we are avoiding as many contact points with lead as possible. We all have lead in our bodies so we need to work to eliminate it so it does not do any more damage.

The easiest and most effective way to remove lead is a chelating agent and the most effective chelating agent for lead is EDTA. EDTA is approved by the FDA for acute lead poisoning. The most effective EDTA chelation product on the market today is KelaminHM EDTA chelation suppositories. I.V. EDTA infusions have been used successfully for over 50 years to reduce lead toxicity but it is quite expensive and time consuming. Oral EDTA products are highly ineffective as about 95% of the EDTA is broken down in your stomach before it can be utilized. KelaminHM EDTA suppositories are highly effective as over 95% of the EDTA is absorbed directly into your circulatory system where it will stay in your system up to 4 times longer than EDTA from an IV. Plus you do not need expensive liver and kidney function tests.