On Wednesday, 30 schools were ordered to shut off their drinking fountains, after elevated levels of lead were detected. The lead is reportedly coming from within the schools, not the Newark Water Department’s source water.
An eagle-eyed tipster wrote an email to us with the subject line: "Urban Outfitters belt composition: leather, mixed metal, nickel... lead." The lede image is the screenshot she sent us. This is surprising, because last time I checked, lead was toxic.
If you're like my 86-year-old grandmother, you probably love black licorice for whatever inexplicable reason exists for snacking on something that looks like braided horsehair lathered in pomade. Now, for your candy-chomping pleasure, you can enjoy black licorice with extra lead, which is especially helpful for all…
Oh, we all thought we were so clever, buying cheap but cute necklaces and colorful bracelets at places like Forever 21, Target, and Claire's. Sure they might make our outfits look better for a very low price, but it turns out these pieces of crappy jewelry might also be poisoning us. Grr. Looks like it's time to admit…
So many of us smear our mouths in lipstick multiple times a day, but how often do you stop to think about what exactly is in it? Well, here's one terrifying ingredient it might have: lead. Lead? Yes, and lead is some serious shit. So just how much danger are we all in if we want to keep our lips looking sumptuously…
Sorry to tarnish your treasured family memories, but it seems that the goofy shot of you grabbing the Sword in the Stone statue at Disneyland is actually a picture of you exposing yourself to high levels of lead. An environmental group has filed a lawsuit against Disney for allegedly failing to remove or post adequate…
According to Time, normal household dust contains not just bug legs and boogers, but also lead, arsenic, and DDT. Some of this can be removed by regular dusting, which is a relief, unless you're this guy. [Time]
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics wants the FDA to set standards to reduce the amount of lead in lipstick because the agency found an average lead level in lipstick ten times higher than its standard for lead in candy. [UPI]
The British government is warning that children's books produced before 1985, printed with inks/paints containing lead, may prove dangerous if eaten. The fine for peddling contraband Berenstein Bears? $10 grand and a jail term. [Guardian]
I was on JetBlue yesterday morning without headphones, but CNN was on the TV and the following question (or a reasonable facsimile) flashed across the screen: Is Splenda bad for your health? And I silently mouthed "NOOOOOO!" Not my favorite calorie-free sweetener! Then I read about it in today's New York Times, and…
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics which tested 33 brand-name lipsticks, including brands like Cover Girl, L'Oreal, and Christian Dior, is reporting that "61% had detectable lead levels of 0.03 to 0.65 parts per million (ppm)." A third of the lipsticks tested had levels higher than 0.1 ppm — the FDA safety limit for lead…
