By Azer N. Parrocha
MANILA, (PNA) — About 13 lucky charms out of 15 samples sold by street vendors at Manila South Cemetery during the recent Undas were discovered by an eco group on Sunday to be tainted with toxic chemicals.
According to the EcoWaste Coalition, these lucky charms worth P10 to P25 each were locally produced in Dasmariñas, Cavite.
They were made of plaster of paris and finished with paint which contained chemicals such as arsenic, chromium and lead, the group noted.
EcoWaste further explained that the lead contained in 13 samples even ranged from 1,306 to 10,100 parts per million (ppm) which exceeded the US limit of 90 ppm for lead in paint and surface coatings.
The 13 toxic lucky charms were the following:
1. A big angel dressed in red with 10,100 ppm of lead.
2. A green lucky snake with 5,920 ppm of lead.
3. A small angel dressed in yellow with 5,299 ppm of lead
4. A pumpkin coin bank with twin pigs with 3,759 ppm of lead.
5. Three small angels dressed in blue, green and yellow with 3,463 ppm of lead
6. Statuettes of three wise men with 3,059 ppm of lead.
7. A Small angel with 3,196 ppm of lead.
8. Two elephants with raised trunks with 2,623 ppm of lead
9. Buddha with big belly and sack with 2,390 ppm of lead.
10. An orange lucky tiger holding a red coin with 2,366 ppm of lead.
11. Smiling Buddha holding a gold ingot with 2,227 of lead.
12. A green money frog with 1,862 ppm of lead.
13. A small brown horse with 1,306 ppm of lead.
Thony Dizon, Coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition’s Project Protect, said in a statement that the group found it “disturbing” that the products were even marketed as bringing “good luck” when they were in fact, hazardous.
Children were the most vulnerable, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which stated that “even relatively low levels of exposure can cause serious, and in some cases, irreversible neurological damage”.
“Children playing at home get the lead dust on their hands, and then ingest it through usual hand-to-mouth routine, notably for kids aged six years and younger,” DIzon said.
“In some cases, they may even pick up paint chips that have higher lead content than that of dust and eat the chips,” he added.
The group also called the attention of makers of the lucky charms, telling them to refrain from using lead-based decorative paints and use the ones lead-free instead.
It also warned the public from purchasing items such as these and to make sure that such items come with product labels.