Your Purse or Handbag Could Be Contaminated With Lead

Did you know that many handbags, purses, and wallets that are being sold at various department stores may contain high levels of lead?  That’s right, lead!

One morning, while listening to the news, I heard an anchor person say, “Some accessories that are made by some well known fashion designers contain high levels of lead”.   After hearing this, I became curious, and decided to do some research.  I didn’t think it was impossible, although it did sound strange and somewhat hard to believe.  Although, I’m pretty sure, the anchor person obtained the information from a reliable source.  It just seems a little strange

Well, the television news media must have obtained their information from the same source as Multimedia Press. Because, according to an online article published by Multimedia Press, in their June 2012 newsletter, the Center for Environmental Health did some testing, this past spring, of nearly 300 purses, handbags, and wallets purchased from retailers in the Oakland, California area, and the tests showed that many of the items were contaminated with high levels of lead.

In a way, it may not seem like much of a big deal, but according to the article, published in the June 2012 edition of the Multimedia newsletter, exposure to high levels of lead can pose a threat to women who want to conceive by causing infertility, it can affect a pregnant woman’s unborn child’s IQ,  and, one other thing, it could lead to impaired mental function in young women, as they age. 

I don’t know about you, but I have never purchased a handbag and the label read, “Made from lead”.  Normally the handbags I buy are made from leather or some manmade material. But, just to let you know, according to Multimedia Press, there could be excessive amounts of lead in products made from leather and synthetic materials.

If you wanted to check and see if you purchased a purse, wallet, or handbag contaminated with excessive amounts of lead, check the list of retailers, posted within the article, where items were found that had high levels of lead contamination. And from there, I would say, contact the manufacturers to get more information about their products and the possibility of lead contamination.