As editor of Here's a twist that may muddy the waters in the debate over plastic bag bans -- its a question about the safety of reusable bags.
The Wegmans Food Markets chain in Rochester, N.Y., announced Friday that it will stop selling two reusable shopping bags designs because testing that indicates that they contain elevated levels of lead.
The bags -- decorated with green pea and 2009 holiday designs -- are made in China. The supermarket chain has stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and Maryland.
A consumer group urged other grocery chains to test their bags for heavy metals.
Comments (1)
Since US based manufacturers of Polyethylene bags are required to comply with strict environmental regulations such as CONEG and the state of CA Heavy Metals in Packaging Act, it is ludicrous that imported "reusable" bags made of PP from China are allowed to be sold to unsuspecting consumers without ANY environmental standards and contain lead, heavy metals, etc in both the material and solvent inks. The same standards that apply to a PE bag should apply to the PP bags by retailers and legislators. More media coverage should alert unsuspecting consumers. Start applying existing laws fairly to protect consumers!
Posted by Cathy Browne | September 15, 2010 9:09 PM
Posted on September 15, 2010 21:09