Monday, March 10, 2008

Leaching Lead from Barbies?

Environmental lead pollution is so pervasive that we're (people and ecosystems) still suffering from our leaded gasoline and paint using days. Sadly, new sources of lead pollution still enter the environment via commercial products... including toys and toothbrushes. The US Senate has responded calling for greater consumer protection (NY Times 3/7/08). Will these measures be enough? And what was the delay? We've known lead in paint was bad news since the 1970s, especially for infants that crawl closer to lead-bearing soils and are prone to sticking things into their mouths...

For Environmental Geochemistry students: Take your favorite childhood toy. Stick it in a strong acid solution for a few days. Measure the lead concentration in the solution. Is your favorite toy safe? Construct an experiment to examine the timeline of lead pollution in that Barbie collection...or those Transformers...