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It’s hard to resist those attractively patterned and packaged fabric shopping totes, especially when celebrities are promoting them and government officials are forcing businesses to charge customers for disposable bags. There’s just one problem: “Green” reusable bags often harm more than they help.
According to a study released by TEI Analytical, half of reusable shopping bags made with Non-Woven Poly Propylene (NWPP) contain an unhealthy amount of lead. Many of the bags that are supposed to save the planet contain more than 100 parts per million (PPM) of toxic heavy metals — v
It’s not just evil corporations and mega-chains that are selling reusable shopping bags to make a profit. Government officials are handing them out for free to unsuspecting recipients.
Not only that, but the bags could actually be considered hazardous waste if they land in the garbage.
Thanks for the concern, but the matter is out of the CPSC’s jurisdiction.
In other words, the one government agency charged with protecting consumers “against unreasonable risks of injuries associated with consumer products,” turned a blind eye when handed evidence of a product that could harm millions of consumers. While the CPSC is all that powerful, it does, hold a large megaphone on consumer issues.
Altmire’s letter was also sent to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Neither one of those agencies acted.
Polyolefins such as Polyethylene (PE) and Polypropylene (PP) are simpler polymer structures that do not need plasticizers, although they do use additives such as UV and heat stabilizers, antioxidants and in some applications flame retardants. The polyolefins pose fewer risks and have the highest potential for mechanical recycling. Both PE and PP are versatile and cheap, and can be designed to replace almost all PVC applications. PE can be made either hard, or very flexible, without the use of plasticizers. PP is easy to mold and can also be used in a wide range of applications.
All those reusable bags are being made and imported from China – 3 billion, in fact, in the last decade. That means 10 reusable bags per person in the U.S. for the last 10 years.
Originally posted by Portugoal
I guess it doesn't specficy what proportion of those reusable bags are made of cotton, and what proportion are NWPP bags. It doesn't differentiate whether or not it's talking solely about NWPP.