EcoWaste warns vs bike brands with lead
THE non-government organization, EcoWaste Coalition warned consumers not to buy two brands of imported toy bicycles as they can pose health risks to children since they did not go through the notification process as required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The group through its chemical safety campaigner Thony Dizon issued the warning following the FDA’s issuance of Advisories 2021-2104 and 2021-2105 banning the sale of the Good Boy and FANHX bicycles. The China-made bicycles are targeted for young children 1.5 to six years old.
The FDA issued the advisories based on the report of the group last June regarding the online sale of lead painted FANHX and Good Boy bicycles, which violates the ban on lead paint as per Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Administrative Order (A.O.) 2013-24, or the Chemical Control Order (CCO) for lead and lead compounds.
The said CCO, which bagged the 2021 Future Policy Award (special category for lead in paint), prohibits the use of lead in the production of paints and certain products, including toys, and sets a maximum limit of 90 parts per million (ppm) for lead in all types of paint.
In separate advisories posted on the FDA website on Aug. 27, the agency confirmed that the toy bicycles have not gone through the required notification process and that the use of such violative products may pose health risks to consumers.
The agency also warned concerned establishments not to sell the violative products and further directed its field regional offices and regional enforcement units to ensure that such products are not sold in areas under their jurisdiction.
“We welcome FDA’s action to protect children from being exposed to preventable health risks from unauthorized toys, including health-harming exposure to lead,” Dizon said.
Dizon also stressed that children can be exposed to lead if they pick up and eat flaking paint chips from a lead coated bike, or ingest or breathe in lead dust.
Based on the laboratory tests commissioned by the group, the Ateneo-based Philippine Institute of Pure and Applied Chemistry (PIPAC) found the yellow paint on Good Boy bicycle laden with 6,850 ppm of lead, while that of FANHX bicycle had 6,950 ppm.
According to the World Health Organization, there is no level of exposure to lead that is known to be without harmful effects.
The WHO further stressed that young children are particularly vulnerable to the toxic effects of lead and can suffer profound and permanent adverse health effects, particularly affecting the development of the brain and nervous system.
“Children’s innate curiosity and their age-appropriate hand-to-mouth behavior result in their mouthing and swallowing lead-containing or lead-coated objects, such as contaminated soil or dust and flakes from decaying lead-containing paint,” explained the WHO.
In light of the public health warnings issued by the FDA, the group appealed to online shopping platforms to immediately take down product advertisements of violative toys sold by third-party dealers.
“Please take action to make online shopping a safe experience where consumers can find not only affordable, but also quality and non-toxic products, especially toys and other childcare articles,” the group said.
