As the back-to-school buzz ramps up, it’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of picking out the trendiest new supplies. However, there’s more to consider than what looks cool—some popular school supplies might harbor harmful chemicals.
Earlier this month, the Washington Attorney General’s Office announced a national agreement with the retailer Dollar Tree to pay $190,000 and implement additional enhancements and controls for testing children’s products following an investigation that found illegal levels of lead and cadmium in some school supplies sold at the chain.
Ecology’s product studies scientists played a key role in the research and laboratory work that led to the agreement.
Unfortunately, many everyday products may contain and release low doses of toxic chemicals. Our product studies scientists regularly test children’s and consumer products to uncover hidden toxics and help keep these harmful chemicals out of our homes and the environment.
Partnering to remove toxic chemicals from consumer products
Our partnership with the Attorney General’s Office was spurred by early research more than a decade ago that uncovered lead and cadmium in a variety of products, including school supplies marketed to children. The school supplies featured cartoon characters, plush exteriors, bright colors, and other eye-catching designs that appeal to children or were child-sized.
Lead and cadmium, two key toxics we monitor, pose serious health risks. Lead can impair brain and nervous system development, leading to learning and behavioral issues, and hearing and speech problems. Cadmium can cause cancer and damage to vital organs like the kidneys, lungs, and liver.
School supplies marketed towards children that had lead and cadmium at the time of testing.
These troubling discoveries launched a series of studies targeting school supplies. Between 2017 and 2021, we worked with the Attorney General’s Office to test 265 school supply products, finding that 151 had concerning levels of these toxic metals. Some of the products we tested had levels so high that they violated the federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. The Attorney General’s Office also believes selling products with such high levels of lead and cadmium violates the state Consumer Protection Act (RCW 19.86).
How we test school supplies
Before diving into testing a product, we have to break it down into its individual components. A single product can have numerous parts—think zippers, fabrics, grommets, straps, and more. Once we’ve disassembled the product, it’s time to decide which components will undergo lab testing.
A shark backpack and all its components that will be screened for toxic chemicals.
In our product studies, we commonly test for heavy metals like lead and cadmium. To detect these metals, we use various methods, each with its own strengths and limitations.
For instance, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is a rapid screening tool that can quickly identify the possible presence of certain metals without taking apart the product. However, XRF readings can be less accurate when products are painted, coated, or textured. We use XRF as an initial screening method to select components for more precise lab testing at Ecology’s Manchester Environmental Laboratory.
While lab methods take longer, they offer high accuracy, which is essential for confirming the presence of toxic chemicals. Lead and cadmium can have harmful effects on human health, and children are even more at risk for adverse effects.
Lab testing requires samples to be in liquid form. Here, an Ecology scientist prepares liquid samples for testing.
Lab testing involves dissolving a component sample into a liquid using an acid and a lab-grade microwave in a procedure called “digestion.” Once the sample is in liquid form, we use a technique known as “inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry” (ICP-MS, or ICP Mass Spec) to measure chemical elements like lead and cadmium within the sample. Our lab testing follows rigorous standards and includes a thorough data review to ensure high-quality results.
Our findings contribute to broader efforts by law enforcement authorities, like the Attorney General’s Office, to target and eliminate toxic chemicals from children’s school supplies. By combining rapid screening with precise lab analysis, we can effectively monitor these consumer products.
Where can I find more information?
Toxic chemicals in children’s products sound scary, but don’t let this news dull your back-to-school sparkle.
Laws like Washington’s Children’s Safe Products Act and Safer Products for Washington are raising the bar for manufacturers and retailers to design and build products without harmful chemicals. And ongoing work like this partnership with the Attorney General’s Office is pushing for stronger testing and standards.
The school supplies studies are published on our website:
Lab testing results and product information are publicly available in our Product Testing Database, and all of our product studies’ findings are documented in reports published on our website.
We are proud to serve as the scientific partner on collaborative studies aimed at reducing and eliminating toxic chemicals from the products we use every day.