The above table was compiled after testing sports shirts from leading brands by the European consumer organisation in 2012.
There are some things about lead that are not in dispute: 1. that lead causes brain damage; 2. that the effect of lead exposure is the same whether it is ingested, absorbed or inhaled; 3. and for children, there is no safe level of lead in blood – any lead will cause some toxic effect.
Lead is just not good for human bodies. Howard Mielke, an expert in lead poisoning at Tulane University School of Medicine, noted that lead typically affects the prefrontal cortex of the brain — the section that controls decision-making and compulsive behavior. Not surprisingly then, lead poisoning has been tied to everything from higher crime rates and lower test scores to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism.
And yet sports brands are still including lead in their brightly coloured apparel, where it is used as a component of dyes.
Existing EU REACH legislation on chemicals fails to prohibit the use of hazardous chemicals in consumer products. Brands are legally free to use as much lead and other chemicals as they wish. Chemically processed polyester textiles contribute to our overall exposure to chemicals from consumer products, as well as providing a more direct route of chemical exposure through contact with sweating skin
So my question is: why would you subject yourself and your children to additional and unnecessary lead exposure from brightly coloured synthetic sports apparel?
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