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According to an investigation by the Washington State Attorney General's Office, a light green frog-shaped pencil case targeting Amazon children contained 80 times the legal limit set by the federal government for lead. This is one of dozens of children's school supplies sold on Amazon.com containing illegal levels of toxic metals.
The investigation was conducted by Attorney General Bob Ferguson's office at the Washington State Department of Ecology and conducted two tests in 2017 and 2018 on children's school supplies sold on the e-commerce site, according to a statement from the Attorney General's Office. They revealed a total of 51 products sold on the site containing illegal levels of lead and cadmium. These included pencil cases, backpacks, lunch boxes, book covers, bracelets and necklaces. Amazon also conducted its own tests on a number of products to confirm that they contained illicit levels of toxic metals.
"These articles featured cartoon characters, plush exteriors and bright primary colors and were sold to children under 12," the statement said. It also indicates that a pencil case contains more than 35 times the legal limit of lead and nearly 29 times the legal limit of cadmium. The US Department of Health and Human Services has identified cadmium as a known human carcinogen and, as the American Academy of Pediatrics has written, lead exposure "can cause serious damage to the developing brain of children ".
A little over 50 products have been identified as containing illegal levels of toxic metals, but the survey found that consumers across the country had purchased at least 15,188 harmful products on Amazon. The tech giant contacted buyers through their email accounts early this year to inform them that they needed to get rid of the products. The company has also spent more than $ 200,000 on repayments and will pay $ 700,000 to the Attorney General's office for its future efforts to protect the environment and toxic products for children.
"Customer security is Amazon's top priority," an Amazon spokesperson told Gizmodo in an email. "We work closely with our business partners to ensure that school supplies and children's jewelry in our store are safe, and to continually improve our processes to verify the safety of these products. We welcome ongoing collaboration with the Attorney General and other agencies to promote client safety. "
Amazon has entered into a voluntary agreement with the Attorney General's Office and will now require all vendors on its site to provide children's product certificates and laboratory test reports indicating that their products do not contain any illegal levels of toxic metals. And if Amazon is informed by the Attorney General or the Washington Department of Ecology that a product or children's jewelry does not meet federal legal requirements, the company has two business days to withdraw the product of its platform.
"While many of us enjoy the convenience of online retailers, the products they sell should not hurt our family or the environment we live in," said Maia Bellon, Director of the Department of Public Health. ecology in a statement. "This is especially true with the products marketed for children."
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