BALITANG TOKSIK! | September 4, 2023
As the market started to sell Christmas lights and decors for early shopping, toxic watchdog group BAN Toxics raised an alarm to the public against Christmas lights and decors being sold that do not pass the quality and safety standard regulation.
During the weekend, BT Patrollers of BAN Toxics noticed the early selling of Christmas lights and decorations in stores in Pasay City. The group monitored and photo documented the varieties of holiday products and found out that the decors had no proper labeling, while the Christmas lights had no Philippine Standard (PS) mark nor Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) sticker indicating its product safety and quality.
“The sale of improperly labeled and/or unregistered holiday decorations can be a potential source of toxic chemical exposure such as lead and cadmium that may cause unreasonable risk to public health,” said Thony Dizon, Toxics Campaigner of BAN Toxics.
“We call the attention of our regulatory agencies to conduct early post marketing surveillance in public markets and eventual confiscation of the products if they do not comply with the regulation in the country,” he added.
Last year, the group issued a warning over the sale of holiday lights that contain high levels of lead and cadmium ranging from 25,500 parts per million (ppm) to 224,000 ppm, way above the 1,000 parts per million (ppm) limit for lead. The lights also had cadmium ranging from 265 ppm to 506 ppm which is above the 100 ppm limit for cadmium under the European Union (EU) Directive on Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS).
Lead exposure can have serious consequences for the health of children. At high levels of exposure to lead the brain and central nervous system can be severely damaged causing coma, convulsions and even death, while cadmium exerts toxic effects on the kidneys as well as the skeletal and respiratory systems. It is classified as a human carcinogen.
“BAN Toxics will continue to conduct market monitoring to raise awareness against toxic chemicals in consumer products to protect the public against hazards to health and safety,” the group lamented.
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References:
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health