High levels of lead exposure found at Disneyland

[pinktink83]

Lead is not something to joke about...it really can cause lots of damage, and once its in your body, you can never get it out. So even small levels can be harmful because it builds up over time.

You wouldn't have to lick the railings for it to be ingested, once its on your hands, you then touch your food, your eyes, your mouth, etc. Kids are especially at risk since they are more likely to be hanging on the railings and then touching their faces.

It specifically said in the article that they conducted "hand" tests, so to me it sounds like they simply wiped the items with their hands, but who knows.

 

[LizzyS]

I work for a company that does lead assessments and I can tell you, it is not harmful unless ingested. So, yes, that poses a threat to children if they are eating paint chips, but otherwise, they are safe. Just don't let your kids knaw on the door knobs and railings.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

I work for a company that does lead assessments and I can tell you, it is not harmful unless ingested. So, yes, that poses a threat to children if they are eating paint chips, but otherwise, they are safe. Just don't let your kids knaw on the door knobs and railings.

Back to the drawing board. This was our 3 pm snack

 

[LizzyS]

I know I was looking forward to some lead shavings on my sweet potato fries!

 

[starshine514]

Actually, this article will change one thing for me - I'm going to try to make sure that my kids actually wash their hands before eating instead of assuming that hand sanitizer might be good enough. Do you think those sanitizing wipes might do the trick if we're nowhere near a restroom?

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

I work for a company that does lead assessments and I can tell you, it is not harmful unless ingested. So, yes, that poses a threat to children if they are eating paint chips, but otherwise, they are safe. Just don't let your kids knaw on the door knobs and railings.

Seriously! Lead in paint flakes off. It's not like the metal in the door knobs are flaking off in your hand and you are eating chunks of it. Common sense says wash your hands before eating, I'd honestly be more concerned about other germs on the knobs than the minuscule amount of possible lead transfer.

 

[tuffyco]

When I was in California in 2006, every single building I went into (restaurants, craft stores, toy stores etc.) had a sign posted on the door that said that the business sold or had products that were determined to be hazardous to your health. We didn't visit one place that didn't have one. My mom and I joked that it must just be all of California that was hazardous to our health.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

Actually, this article will change one thing for me - I'm going to try to make sure that my kids actually wash their hands before eating instead of assuming that hand sanitizer might be good enough. Do you think those sanitizing wipes might do the trick if we're nowhere near a restroom?

It's better than nothing The wipes have the added benefit of wiping along with the sanitizing.

 

[mickeyM00SE]

Your liver metabolizes lead and flushes the body of it. It used to be thought that once lead was in your system it stayed there forever but this isn't the case, your body does get rid of it just very slowly.l

 

[jemilah]

everything in California will kill you, no warning labels anywhere else. Good lord how much lead must be in the slot machines and casinos here in Vegas! Maybe if former cast members all had lead related illnesses there should be concern, but I have never heard of that.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

everything in California will kill you, no warning labels anywhere else. Good lord how much lead must be in the slot machines and casinos here in Vegas! Maybe if former cast members all had lead related illnesses there should be concern, but I have never heard of that.

 

[princesszelda]

everything in California will kill you, no warning labels anywhere else. Good lord how much lead must be in the slot machines and casinos here in Vegas! Maybe if former cast members all had lead related illnesses there should be concern, but I have never heard of that.

I agree with this! There are signs all over CA with warnings. I guess we should just lock ourselves up in our home and never go out.

 

[blackjackdelta]

I hadn't thought of that!!

BPA, I thought it was PCB?

Jack

 

[DizMe]

I agree with this! There are signs all over CA with warnings. I guess we should just lock ourselves up in our home and never go out.

Oh, but then you're breathing in all those toxic formaldehyde fumes and pcbs and possibly carbon monoxide and radon

 

[gabsandalex]

I live in a house that is 102 years old. Pretty much any house this old has lead in the paint. Because of this, we had our house tested for lead and there were a number of hot spots that we are getting fixed with a lead abatement team. This is the only house that my children have lived in and they have both been regularly tested for lead, which have always shown that they below normal levels. If they haven't absorbed lead from our old house, I am confident that they won't be getting it from a doorknob or railing at Disneyland.

My understanding is that lead in the metal isn't going to contaminate somebody simply by touching it. If the railing is painted and chipped, it could get on the hands and be ingested. But I seriously have never seen a Disneyland railing with chipping paint. Granted I haven't looked, but Disneyland is pretty well kept up. I am sure that they would not knowingly expose their guests to lead poisoning...kind of goes against the whole "magicalness" of the place.

And for the record, lead can be eliminated from the body - certain foods (dairy, spinach) help the process.

 

[gabsandalex]

Another thought:

I was under the impression that they swipe tests are used to check the lead levels in DUST, not the actual item the dust is sitting on. The moulding around the doors in our house tested positive, but they never did the wipe test there - instead they did that on the floors and window ledges.

They used some sort of gun-type of tester to actually measure the levels of lead in the walls, bathtub, doors, etc. in our house (the lead based paint had LONG since been painted over, but still shows up as a hot spot, which is why it has to be properly sealed).

 

[pixiewings71]

I am actually quite familiar with these tests......as one of the labs doing the tests is the lab my DBF works at. I've actually seen the printouts with the results of the tests they ran. They ran them as "hand" tests, which is basically a cotton swab or wipe rubbed over the item in question, then the swab is tested for lead. The amounts of lead DBF's firm found is actually quite low, I'm not worries at all, and trust me, if there was something to worry about DBF would tell me.

 

[FlameGirl]

BPA, I thought it was PCB?

Jack

Bisphenal A is in many plastics. It's really nasty stuff.

 

[blackjackdelta]

Bisphenal A is in many plastics. It's really nasty stuff.

.


Thanks for the education, I appreciate it.

Jack

 

[LizzyS]

I am actually quite familiar with these tests......as one of the labs doing the tests is the lab my DBF works at. I've actually seen the printouts with the results of the tests they ran. They ran them as "hand" tests, which is basically a cotton swab or wipe rubbed over the item in question, then the swab is tested for lead. The amounts of lead DBF's firm found is actually quite low, I'm not worries at all, and trust me, if there was something to worry about DBF would tell me.

When my firm does lead-based paint assessments, we collect entire chips as samples; it's certainly not a swab test. I'm sure that was a cost-effective approach. At any rate, this is silly.