First Post: Channelling the Outrage

A little history about me: I used to work in the environmental consulting industry in Massachusetts, and some of the environmental work that was being done was decommissioning and cleaning up old manufacturing sites because companies were either moving the manufacturing to the South, to Mexico, or in some cases, to China. Somewhere where it was cheaper for the businesses to produce their products and make a profit; or at least, to make a bigger profit. From my point of view as an environmental consultant, it was pretty apparent why these companies were leaving Massachusetts: between the relatively high cost of labor, the environmental regulations in the Commonwealth, taxes, etc., the costs of doing business were too high. So, manufacturers moved somewhere else where the costs are less. That is capitalism, or an open market, or whatever, and I really don't have a problem with that (well, I would prefer that US companies keep manufacturing in the US, but I think that is already a sealed coffin).

What I do have a problem with is when those companies close their US manufacturing facilities, then sub their manufacturing out to other companies (whether in the US or some other country), and then do an insufficient job of inspecting the manufacturing process, and the worst, do an insufficient job of testing those products that they are putting THEIR LABEL on, before they sell them to consumers.

The most infuriating (to me, at least) incident has been the Thomas the Train Engine recall. Several of the toys were painted with lead paint. This BLOWS MY MIND!!!!!! We are exposed to hundreds, maybe thousands, of chemicals in our day to day environments, and we have no idea what these chemicals do to our bodies. That is a whole other debate and issue, but LEAD???!!!! It is probably one of the most studied and documented toxins to humans! THIS IS ABSOLUTELY INEXCUSABLE THAT A TOY MANUFACTURER MADE THIS ERROR!!!!

For those of you who do not know, let me explain why lead is so bad:

It causes developmental delays in children, can cause seizures and affect hearing. A child can be exposed to lead in his environment, and common sources are paint, old pipes made from lead or lead soldering in brass pipes (filter your water!), some pottery contains lead, and it is even found in food, such as balsamic vinegar.

However, a child can also be exposed to lead inutero if the mother is exposed while pregnant. Or even if she was exposed to lead at an earlier point in her life. This is one of the reasons why it is important to make sure pregnant women take/eat calcium while pregnant because if she isn't consuming enough in her diet, her body will extract calcium from her bones. And guess what? The body metablizes lead like it does calcium and stores it in bone. And if you have some lead stored in your bones, the body could deliver the lead to the baby instead of the calcium. So essentially, females especially should avoid lead since it can harm their future children.

I'll bet your thinking I can't be serious, but I am:

http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/156/12/1088

After some contemplation, I've decided that it is pointless to rage at Chinese and other foreign manufacturers and their unethical behaviour. Afterall, nobody made these US companies move their manufacturing overseas, they chose to. And most companies would explain that at the very least, their hand was forced and they had to either move overseas to stay competitive or go out of business. Fine. That is an understandable explanantion. However, it doesn't mean that US consumers should now fear using products because they may contain some known toxic substance!! But until US consumers start demanding more from these US companies that are now having their products manufactured overseas, NOTHING WILL CHANGE!

So what should we do? Petition our government? Maybe some states (like CA, MA or NY) would be worthwhile, but the federal government? Nope. I think we need to send letters to the US companies. A LOT of letters. They need to feel that their "bottom line" will take a hit before they do anything. So, maybe letters and some bad press? Anyone else have any ideas and suggestions? I'm going to work on that letter right now...