Study shows reusable bags contain high levels of lead content = High Toxicity

Study shows reusable bags contain high levels of lead content

dailycaller.com

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

(visit the link for the full news article)

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.

Figures the NWO is hard at work to poison us through their green agenda. I think we should throw this "reusable bag" garbage into the flouride bin. When the government says something is good, it's probably not..

dailycaller.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Thanks for posting this up, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my reusable bags now. I'm wondering if there is a way to find out the ppm level of the bags. Also unless I missed something in the article it's state exactly where the lead is located in the product, which would be nice to know.

reply to post by Silverado292


I was wondering why lead was needed in these bags? Can't they make them without lead? If not they cause more harm than good.

Not only that, but the bags could actually be considered hazardous waste if they land in the garbage.

And the real kicker:

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.

That's the most compelling evidence of this being big. This definitely competes with, and may just surpass, the flouride conspiracy. The jury's still out on the effects of flouride (even though evidence shows that it provides no good to us and may be poisoning us), but it is well known that lead is extremely toxic, yet the government isn't doing anything to act.

Here we go again, I have maybe 20 bags, they are all 100% cotton and I throw them into the washing machine, I don't use the type of bags they are talking about in this article. You can still get 100% cotton bags, I just bought another one recently from Trader Joe's. Yes I do use them everytime I go grocery shopping, no plastic for me.

WTF? reusable bags of Non-Woven Poly Propylene is no "Green" in the first place!

We use bags of 100% cotton - like the poster above!

Hobson's Choice

Of course, if you use cotton bags made from GMO cotton, you must know you're destroying the planet that way, too.

But I kid, I kid.

The headline seems more broad than it should be, and gives the impression (even if it doesn't directly say it) that all reusable bags contain unhealthy levels of lead, when that's not true. Adding the word "some" really wouldn't have hurt.

According to the article, "half of reusable shopping bags made with Non-Woven Poly Propylene (NWPP) contain an unhealthy amount of lead." So if you're using NWPP bags, it's a 50-50 shot, according to them. Also, it's not clear how much lead would actually find its way into food carried in the bags, especially packaged foods, but it would seem prudence is better than imprudence when dealing with one's food.

I think the article's main thrust is the irony of "green" bags (that consumers are being driven to as disposable bags are banned) being toxic, and that is indeed ironic.

Many new "green" companies and products are the same old crap with a new label, marketed for a credulous demographic. Eventually the term will become so saturated by garbage that it will become meaningless, the same way "all natural" (used for foods that are anything but) is today.

Which means we, as individuals, are burdened yet again with staying vigilant, making informed decisions and avoiding the herd mentality that all too often leads to the slaughterhouse.

In this case, I think all-cotton reusable bags (which, as Aquarius1 pointed out, can easily be washed to remove bacteria, another potential hazard of reusable bags) are looking better and better -- and certainly better than disposable plastic bags, which offer great convenience in exchange for a myriad of problems.

My tuppence, YMMV.

The NWPP bags are indeed a form of plastic, but in the Greenpeace plastic pyramid, the material is a step above the best alternative, bio based plastics.

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.

source

Imported candy (Mexico, Asia eg) can have high levels of lead from sources ranging from ingredients, manufacturing, to packaging. I suspect the China bags lead source might be in the coloring, if not in the material itself. After decades of never using festive, decorative colored paper plates, I bought some for a holiday a couple years ago. Of course, now they are Made In China. Jeezus! I thought I was being poisoned. The taste of the food touching the colored plates was terrible, metallic!

American industry leaves America to avoid being regulated. Then Americans are shipped goods that are not good for us, goods that pollute our bodies.

What looks like the old safe Made In America goods are proving NOT SAFE when made outside! The sick joke is on the American consumer, who is sickened by these imports.

reply to post by Majic

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.

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. Of the 3 billion bags out there are made of cotton, and how many are NWPP? Let's say that it's 50-50. That means of 1.5 billion bags that are NWPP, approximately 750 million are toxic! Of course the title couldn't have said "some" because it has to be sensationalized to some degree, but potentially 750 million toxic bags is huge (750 is a guess because I don't actually know how many bags are made with NWPP out there).

In The Bag

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.

Cotton isn't mentioned anywhere in the article, which seems to focus on NWPP bags, and all-cotton bags (unless mislabeled, of course) don't contain NWPP. If they are discussing cotton bags, they're doing an excellent job of hiding it.

That doesn't mean cotton bags can't be tainted with lead. As desert pointed out, toxic materials can find their way into products in all sorts of ways, with dyes a notable culprit.

However, I would expect all-cotton bags without dyes or other embellishments are the best bet for now.

While this is ATS, and thus everything's a conspiracy (), I strongly suspect the usual suspects of greed and irresponsibility have more to do with this lead issue than some grand, malevolent conspiracy. People out for nothing more than to make a quick buck usually underlie just about every perceived conspiracy at some level or another.

Which does offer a certain degree of irony, since I think the drive for profit can ultimately benefit humanity, if properly managed.

I would love to see some technological savvy applied to evolving the current penchant for disposable bags into something more biodegradable or sustainable. The most successful solution will be the one that best addresses environmental and economic concerns AND is the easiest to live with.

I don't subscribe to the notion that sustainability mandates inconvenience, and indeed suggest that by far the best and most sustainable technologies will be those that are practical, economical and convenient.

When it's easier to be truly "green" than it is to pollute, and we can abandon the absurd, pseudo-religious conceit many activists hold which insists we need to live in some sort of technological Dark Age to be responsible stewards of the Earth, then a cleaner, better world is what we'll have.

I actually use old pillow cases lol. I try to reuse and recycle everything I can

Thanks for sharing,this is really ridiculous ,the reusable bags are known for their environment-friendly,but now it turns out to be dangerous,oh god,i am just confused...

None of this would be an issue if we used 100% hemp bags.
No color added and vegetable dye stencils. Ding, ding, ding....
Just gave away another one of my million dollar ideas...

The only reason we have to deal with lead in these "fake woven"
bags is because of greed, and of course those that do not give two
hoots about us.

Legalize hemp for the purposes of industrial use and the US would be out of the
hole quicker than anything. It takes bravery and passion to stand up against the
idiots that hold the power right now. Then bravery and passion are given lip
service like a $2 you know what gives a you know what.

Originally posted by Holly N.R.A.
None of this would be an issue if we used 100% hemp bags.

But hemp bags are usually made of plastic, aren't they? err...