Lead-Free Lunches

Due to our hard work in this area the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) has recommended Reusablebags.com as a trusted source for safe, vinyl-free lunch bags. Click here to see all of our Lead-Free Lunch Bags.

We thought it would be helpful to answer several of the common questions about vinyl lunch bags and lead safety. Based on the volume and type of inquires we've been getting, there is a good amount of misinformation and rumors flying around. We hope you find the following informative - help spread the word!

I've heard rumors regarding lead in children's lunch bags - what is going on?

Here is a quick summary:

  • Lead-laden Lunchboxes OK'd by Government (AP 2.18.07)
  • The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) in Oakland, California filed a lawsuit on August 31, 2005 against several manufacturers and retailers of soft vinyl lunch boxes that were found to contain high levels of lead. One lunch box tested contained more than 90 times the 600 ppm (parts per million) legal limit for lead in paint in children's products.
  • One of the reasons why the CEH's investigation is of significant concern is that the highest lead levels were found in the lining of lunch boxes, where it can easily come into contact with food, and where kids are likely to touch before handling their food.
  • Not all vinyl bags are affected.
  • It is very difficult to determine if a vinyl lunch bag contains unsafe lead levels. You can't tell by just looking at the bag and home lead test kits will indicate if any trace amount of lead is present - not necessarily unsafe levels.
  • Because of this, CEH is recommending parents replace vinyl lunch bags with lead-free (non-vinyl) alternatives.
  • In response to CEH investigation, government scientists tested 60 soft, vinyl lunchboxes & U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission released a statement that they found "no instances of hazardous levels."
I've heard a rumor that Laptop Lunch Kits tested positive for lead?

Untrue. Laptop Lunch Kits have been thoroughly tested by two independent labs in California and were found to be free of the following: lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, antimony and tin. Click here to read a letter from the manufacturer concerning Laptop Lunch Kit lead safety. Click here to see one of the lead-free lab reports.

What are some safe, lead-free lunch bag alternatives?

Some of the lead-free alternatives include reusable cloth bags and paper bags. We contacted the manufacturers of the lunch bags that we carry and they have certified that they are all safe. Furthermore, we tested all of the lunch bags available on our site, and each tested lead-free and/or lead-safe.

What material(s) are considered unsafe?

The source of the high levels of lead is in vinyl only. No other materials are cited in the report. Apparently lead was added to the vinyl as either a stabilizing agent or pigment.

Are all vinyl bags unsafe?

No. According to the CEH, "The majority of lunch boxes that CEH tested do not contain lead, so there is a good chance that your lunch box may be safe." Also, keep in mind that the report states not all bags with vinyl have unsafe levels of lead. A lot of it is cheap, mass-merchandised stuff. The bags that are raising alarm tested 2-to-90 times the legal limit for lead paint in children's products. But because lead has been shown to cause developmental problems in young children at very low levels, CEH believes it is important to eliminate all controllable sources of lead exposure, including lunch boxes.

I used a home test lead kit and my lunch bag tested positive - what now?

Just because a bag does test positive with a home test kit, it does not mean that the bag is necessarily unsafe.

These tests are extremely sensitive - indicating lead levels down to .001 ppm (parts per million), or 0.00015% of the legal limit set for lead paint in children's products (which is set at 600 ppm). This legal limit of 600 ppm was the benchmark used for the warnings issued by the CEH. Unfortunately, these basic lead home test kit tests simply can't tell you how much lead is present if you do get a positive test result. We agree with the Center for Environmental Health's recommendations to err on the side of caution and get rid of bags that test positive and move to safe, lead-free alternatives.

How can I make sense of the numbers and put them in perspective?
  • Home lead test kits will give a positive result if lead levels as low as .001-.002 ppm (parts per million) are detected.  
  • The legal limit for lead paint in children's products is 600 ppm.  
  • It's estimated that the daily intake of lead from our diet and environment is .02 ppm (see below).
How do I make sense of ppm (parts per million) and milligrams?

This can be really confusing. To help make sense of this: 1 microgram = .001 ppm. For a more in depth explanation, click here.

What are some common sources of lead and how does it enter the body?

Lead is a part of our world, found in everything from paint, dust, soil, food and water. It occurs naturally in the earth's crust, and human activities such as burning fossil fuels, mining, and manufacturing have spread it throughout the environment, including our homes and workplaces.

It can enter the body through ingestion, inhalation, dermal (skin) absorption, and in utero exposure. Small children are most commonly exposed to lead by eating lead-based paint chips, chewing on objects painted with lead-based paint, or swallowing house dust or soil that contains lead.

Putting the above into perspective, most of the lead we take in comes from our diet, and this lead is safely removed by the body: "The average daily diet probably contains more than 200 micrograms of lead, of which about 10 gets into the blood, where it is joined by about 5 micrograms of lead from our lungs (depending upon where we live), so that our daily intake probably comes to about 15 micrograms and the body can easily rid itself of such an amount..." states Dr. John Emsley, chemist and former science writer at Cambridge University.

How can families reduce the risk of exposure to lead?

According to the National Safety Council (NSC), on average, children under six will absorb/retain about 50% of the lead they ingest. That percentage can be reduced through good nutrition, including adequate levels of calcium, iron, vitamin C, and zinc. In addition, since lead has been shown to cause developmental problems in young children at very low levels, it makes sense to become educated on where lead can come from, and eliminate all controllable sources of lead exposure whenever possible.

This would include testing and removing lead paint at home (homes built before 1978 are at higher risk), running the water for 15 to 30 seconds before drinking or cooking (older homes may have plumbing with lead or lead solder), regular hand and face washing, and regularly cleaning the house of dust and tracked in soil. For a more detailed overview, click here.

Additional information on vinyl lunch bags and lead exposure:

Lead-Free vs. Lead-Safe?

All of the lunch bags we offer are vinyl-free and meet our high product standards of value, function, style and quality. To be accurate, we have categorized our lunch bags as lead-free and lead-safe. Lead-free bags are vinyl-free bags that show no traces of lead whatsoever. Lead-safe bags are vinyl-free bags that may show minute amounts of lead - no more than 15% - of the 50 ppm (parts per million) benchmark used by CEH to determine if a bag is lead-safe or not.

Neoprene and coated nylon will occasionally test positive for trace amounts of lead due to lead being added during the manufacturing process as a stablizer. Because of this, we must delineate bags that contain neoprene and coated nylon as lead-safe as they may show trace lead amounts during testing.

Again, we carry no lunch bag that is considered unsafe by the CEH. In fact, the CEH endorses lead-safe neoprene bags as alternatives to vinyl lunch bags on their website. Click here to read more.

If you know of any products we should consider, please email us your suggestions: products@reuseit.com

Click here to see all of our Lead-Free Lunch Bags.