Making News

January 21, 2010

Legal Agreement Establishes Strict Lead Limits for Purses from Four Companies

Oakland, CA- The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) has reached landmark legal agreements with four major companies to end lead threats to women from purses, handbags, clutches and wallets. Last April, CEH announced finding high levels of lead in dozens of purses and handbags sold at several major retailers, including Target, Macy's, WalMart and many others. Today's agreement with Lerner NY (New York & Company), H&M, Tri-Coastal Designs and Haddad Accessories creates the country's first legally binding rules to end high levels of lead in purses.

CEH is pursuing legal action to eliminate lead threats from purses sold by more than 100 other major retailers and suppliers. "We applaud these four companies for their leadership in eliminating health threats to women from lead in purses," said Michael Green, Executive Director of CEH. "With this agreement today, women can know that purses from these companies will ultimately conform to the highest health standards in the country."

A federal law that went into effect last year requires that materials in products for children contain no more than 300 parts per million (ppm) of lead. But there is no federal standard for lead in purses. Under the CEH agreements, purses sold in California from all of the companies will ultimately be made with materials that contain no more 300 ppm of lead, with an even stricter standard for some materials.

Last year, CEH found purses and one wallet from the four companies that, according to independent lab tests, contained between 13 times and more than 115 times the 300 ppm standard reached in the settlement. Testing on a small sample of other purses also showed that weathering can dramatically increase the amount of lead that wipes off of them, suggesting that lead in purses can become an even greater hazard as the purses age.

Lead is listed by the EPA and other federal and state agencies as a cancer-causing chemical, and lead exposure has been linked to higher rates of infertility in women, an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, and high blood pressure, among other health problems. Scientists are increasingly concerned that there is no safe level of lead exposure, especially for pregnant women and young children.

Recent studies published in the National Institute of Environmental Health Science's peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives demonstrated the impacts that lead exposure during pregnancy can have on a women's unborn child. One study, investigating children's IQ scores in relation to their mother's blood lead level, concluded that lead exposure during pregnancy could have "lasting and possibly permanent effects" on a child's IQ. Another study showed that lead exposure during the first trimester (three month period), when some women are not even aware that they are pregnant, had the most pronounced effects on a child's mental development. A 2009 study showed that chronic low-level lead exposures in young women could lead to impaired mental functioning as they age.

Under its agreement with CEH, purses sold by H&M in California will by March 1, 2010 contain no more than 90 ppm of lead in paint or surface coatings, vinyl (PVC) or leather materials, and no more than 600 ppm in any other materials. By December 1, 2010, the company will phase down the lead levels in all materials to no more than 300 ppm. The other three companies have agreed that by September 1, 2010 their purses sold in California will contain no more than 90 ppm in paint or surface coatings, no more than 200 ppm in vinyl (PVC), no more than 600 ppm in leather (phasing down to 300 ppm by September 1, 2011), and no more than 300 ppm in other materials.

Each company has also agreed to a settlement payment of $35,000, which includes payments to the State of California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, payments to help fund CEH's ongoing work to educate and protect Californians from toxic health hazards, money to help defer CEH's legal expenses, and $2,000 from each company towards a testing fund to be used by CEH to monitor for compliance to the terms of the agreement.

CEH's legal work has previously uncovered lead threats from toys, vinyl baby bibs, diaper creams and children's medicines, lunchboxes, children's jewelry, automobile wheel weights, and many other products. CEH has a ten-year track record of protecting consumers from hidden health hazards and protecting communities from health hazards related to toxic pollution. CEH also works with major industries and leaders in green business to promote healthier alternatives to toxic products and practices.

Below is a list of companies CEH has notified about high levels of lead in their purses:

5-7-9 (Rainbow Apparel, AIJJ Enterprises)

Accessory Exchange/Bag Bazaar ("No Boundaries" bag supplier to WalMart)

Acme Accessories (Fluff brand bags)

Adidas

AE Retail West

Aldo (Aldo USA/Aldo Group)

A-List Inc

Amazon.com

American Eagle Outfitters

American Procurement

Amici Accessories

Amity/Rolf's Inc

Ashley Stewart/Urban Brands

Audigier Brands

Baekgaard Lmtd

Bag Bazaar

Bakers Footwear

Bebe Stores

Benetton

Billabong Retail

Bloomingdales

Brown Shoe

The Buckle

Burleigh Point

C&J Clark

CBI Distributing (supplier to Claire's)

California Onax

Calvin Klein

Charlotte Russe

Charming Shoppes (supplier to Lane Bryant)

Chenson Industrial

Chinese Laundry/Cels Enterprises (supplier to Macy's of Chinese Laundry brand bags)

Claire's

Coldwater Creek

Cole Haan

Comeco

CVS Caremark

DSW

Diesel USA

Dress Barn

Eastbay Inc

EBags

Ecko Direct

EFashion Solutions

Element Skateboards

Express

Fantasia Accessories (supplier to Kohl's)

Fashion Bug

Fashion Shoe Licensin

Foot Locker

Foreign Exchange Inc

Forever 21

Fossil

Fox Head Inc

French Connection

Furmir LLC

Global Brand Holdings LLC

Guess

Hardy Life LLC

Hobo International/Ray Enterprises (supplier to Bloomingdales)

Hot Topic

HSN

Iconix

Indonesian Imports

JC Penney

Jest Jewels San Francisco

Jill Stuart

Jones Apparel

Kate Spade

Kemistre 8 LLC

Kenneth Cole

Kmart

Kohl's

Lane Bryant

Limited

Liz Claiborne

Lodis Accessories

Loehmann's

Long Rap Inc

Lovely Bag, Inc (supplier to Jest Jewels)

Macy's

Mango NY/Distex Inc

Marc Ecko Enterprises Accessories

Marc Jacobs Intl

Maxx Accessories

Melie Bianco Accessories

Metropark USA

Mias Fashion

Michael Kors

Mode Plus

Mondani Handbags and Accessories

Nakajima USA/Sanrio (Hello Kitty brand)

Nine West

Nordstrom

Overstock.com

Pacific Sunware (PacSun)

Payless Shoes

Perlina Handbags

Phat Fashions

Phillips-Van Heusen

Quicksilver/QS Wholesale

Robert Talbott Inc

Roc Apparel Group

Rosetti (supplier to JC Penney)

Ross Stores

Rue 21

Run Athletics

The Sac

Saks & Company

San Diego Hat Company

Sears

Sharif Designs

Shiraleah

Signature Styles

Silhouette

South Cone

Spiegel Catalogue

Steve Madden

Straw Studios

Super Trader Inc

Tandy Brands

Target

Ted Baker Ltd

TJ Maxx

Tokyo Bay

Tory Burch

Tumi

Vans

VF Outdoor

Victoria's Secret

Viewmark USA (supplier to Macy's)

Volcom

WalMart

Westport

Wet Seal

Wilson's Leather Direct

With You, Inc

Worldwide Dynasty

Y&S Handbags

Zappos

Zumiez, Inc