A grandmother who found baby bibs contained lead is helping to launch a North American campaign aimed at protecting children from dangerous imported goods.
Marilyn Furer, of Chicago, Ill., became active in the campaign against lead in baby products when she was visiting her grandchildren in Florida in 2005. She saw a report on American network television about lead being present in lunchboxes.
Furer obtained a lead kit from a hardware store and tested the five lunchboxes in the house. She found three of them contained lead. The next year, Furer tested the baby bibs of her 3-month-old grandchild that were manufactured in China and was shocked by what she found.
"To my dismay, I found lead on these baby bibs," Furer said.
Earlier this year, bibs sold in Toys "R" Us stores in the U.S. were deemed to contain unsuitable levels of lead by the Center for Environmental Health, an environmental group based in California.
According to United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard, Furer's discovery is indicative of a larger problem he refers to as a "broken trade regime."
"The global economy is sending things to the lowest common denominator. What we're finding is all kinds of things that are made in China," Gerard said.
The past few months have seen millions of products originally manufactured in China recalled because of safety issues, including unsuitable levels of lead.
Gerard and Furer, an associate member of the United Steelworkers, are launching the campaign to "Stop Toxic Imports" in Toronto Wednesday. The campaign launch will take place at the United Steelworkers International Women's Conference and will distribute lead screening kits to attendees.
As part of the campaign, the United Steelworkers will be holding town hall meetings in 35 towns and cities across Canada and teach-ins across North America.
"We have to demonstrate that offshoring to the cheapest source of product you can get has the consequences and certainly if we can't care about ourselves, we've got to care about our kids," Gerard said.
The campaign is important to Furer because of the potential effects lead poisoning can have, which include damage to the nervous and reproductive systems and brain damage.
The most important thing to understand, Furer said, is that infancy is a crucial time as babies are habitually putting untested items in their mouth.
