Hello,
My name is bwings and I use cloth bags when I shop.
Actually most times I simply use the stroller but when I'm without the beast I try to always have cloth bags on hand. Not only are they eco-friendly but they are easier on your hands when you carry home heavy groceries. I carried home 30 lbs of groceries a month back and my fingers weren't incredibly mad at me for it.
So imagine my surprise when among my e-mails I discover this inquiry from Happy Hippie.
Dear Hippie Mom, I have been using my reusable grocery/tote bags when running my errands in an effort to be more green. I admit sometimes I fail when I forget to take them in the store or place them back int he car or stroller. But I would say I use them a good 90% of the time. Here is my concern. I recently heard someone say they had seen a thing on tv claiming these bags have an unsafe level of lead in them. Before giving up and going back to plastic or paper, I decided to check with you and see if you have heard anything? Thank you so much.Trying to stay green :)Happy Hippie
Well Happy Hippie, my initial reaction is this must be a rumor started by a method similar to the 'phone game'. We all know the phone game, one person whispers one thing in another's ears and the message is passed on until it returns to the initiator as something completely different. I envision this moment something like this:
Instigator - "Oh, you use cloth bags?! Why bother?!"
Hippie - "It's better for the environment and isn't that much trouble."
Instigator - "Better for the environment? Pft we're going to hell in a cloth handbag!"
Hippie - *eyeroll and walks away*
Instigator turns to his friend and says in a joking fashion, "I bet you she'd use plastic if she knew the bag had lead in it!"
Instigator's friend doesn't have a sense of humor and takes the joke seriously and BANG instant rumor.
Honestly, that's how I see a lot of these rumors starting. BUT nevertheless it's a statement I hadn't yet heard and so now I shall do what I can to seek the truth. Cloth bag conspiracy or legitimate concern?
As I did my research into this one I found that the facts were there but there was certainly a bit of twisting. Yes there are in fact bags being discovered to have lead contaminations in them. However, and I can't stress this enough, this was in polypropelne reusable bags (plastic #5) not cloth bags. So, in short, cloth bags are still safe as far as this particular concern. Three cheers for cloth vs. plastic winning yet another battle.
Now for the scary facts as they have been presented to me. It is true that some reusable bags have been found to contain lead. These bags with lead were found to have 194 parts per million. This is below the government standard of 300 ppm. But above (nearly double) the standard allowed in children's project which is 100ppm. {Don't let your children play with your plastic bags it um...er... well it says it pretty much everywhere that plastic bags aren't play things!}
Good news, as I've already stated, the reusable bags in question were polypropolyene (number 5 plastic). It is my not-so-expert opinion that if you are already making a step towards a greener world by using a reusable bag, switching from a plastic reusable to a cloth reusable isn't that far a leap. However, if my not-so-expert opinion is incorrect then I have some data for you. The Tampa Tribune purchased some reusable bags from popular locations and commissioned lab tests on them for heavy metals. Feel free to examine their results.
For now I shall victoriously overpack my strollers and carry cloth bags.
As always, I enjoy your e-mails happy hippie, keep it green, you friendly neighborhood hippie mom.
