Some tennis balls for dogs, chew toys for cats and women's plastic handbags were among the common household items found to contain lead and other toxic chemicals in recent tests, a nonprofit environmental group reported on Wednesday.
The Ecology Center, a group based in Michigan, announced that it had expanded its online database, healthystuff.org, to reflect 15,000 test results on more than 5,000 common items.
But independent toxicity experts expressed uncertainty that the mere presence of a toxic chemical in some objects would pose a clear health danger to people or animals.
The products were rated by level of concern from low to high, depending on how much lead, mercury, arsenic or other chemicals known to be hazardous to human and pet health were detected.
Jeff Gearhart, the research director for the center, which is known for its investigations on chemicals in children's toys and cars, said it had decided to expand the database because of intense public demand for information on all types of products.
Mr. Gearhart said the center's announcement was timed to give a lift to current efforts in Congress to introduce legislation to more closely regulate toxic chemicals that end up in so many household products.
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Group Reveals Toxic Chemicals in Consumer Products
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Environmental Group Reveals Toxic Chemicals in a Range of Consumer Items
By Leslie Kaufman and Gardiner Harris
The New York Times, Sept 16, 2009
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