The local angle is that I got this bit of startling news out of the monthly newspaper published by Puget Consumers Co-op, the local natural foods chain better known around these parts as PCC. I submit it as a sort of public service.

So what if I'm the only conservative republican who shops at PCC and has to amble past the far-left bumperstickers in the parking lot, or even endure the elderly customer who snarked at me as I walked to my car at the View Ridge store because he didn't like my George W. Bush bumpersticker--I do like organic produce and healthier prepared-food items, and I enjoy reading some of the articles in their monthly newspaper "Sound Consumer."

So I was kind of alarmed to read in my latest "Sound Consumer" about high levels of lead in vinyl lunchboxes. Now I knew these lunchboxes were questionable already because of the stinky, offgassing odors of the chemical softeners in the vinyl, but I didn't know about the dangerously high levels of lead in them! If you have kids or extended family members with kids, you'll want to read this article and learn more. The lead is used as a stabilizing agent or pigment, says the article. The Washington Toxics Coalition, a local organization, says one lunchbox tested contained more than 560 times the legal limit for lead under state law. Ouch! You DO NOT want your kid's pb&j sandwich coming into contact with THAT! Lead ingestion is an absolute no-no. Especially for kids, where "it can impair brain development and cause behavioral and developmental problems". Not good.

The article not only lists the shocking number of brand-name lead-containing vinyl lunchboxes (and baby-bottle carriers!) where the highest levels were found in the lining of the lunchboxes no less, but also lists non-lead-containing ones for those who are interested. They even tell you how to test your kid's own vinyl lunchbox to see if it has lead. Check it out. And that vinyl lunchbox your kid's been using--you might want to throw it out!