Dangers that Lurk in Re-Usable Shopping Bags

With the onslaught of eco friendly, conserve the environment type thinking, many shoppers turned to reusable shopping bags. The stores cashed in on the idea by selling you a cloth type bag with their logo on it for a very minimal cost. The idea is that you bring the bags back and forth instead of using the plastic ones and then tossing them out.

Sounds like a good plan right? It should have been except for the fact that we are now being told about dangers that may lurk in these reusable shopping bags. Take a close look at your bags. My little blue Ace Hardware bag has a tag on the inside that says "China."

China is where we get most of our recalled things due to a high lead content. Do you see where this is going? Yes, according to a recent report in USA Today, some of these reusable shopping bags have a lead content.

"The Tampa Tribune" has done a series on lead contamination in reusable shopping bags. The Tribune reportedly had bags tested from Publix, WalMart, Target, Winn-Dixie and Sweetbay. They found lead in all of them.

A report by CBC News states that some of these bags were tested for lead by Thornton Laboratories and did indeed show a lead content. Some only had about 5 parts per million, but others had a much higher content of lead. Wal-Mart bags reportedly tested below the 5 PPM.

The lab reported that they believed the lead would not wash off easily or get into your groceries. I don't know about you, but I handle those bags quite a lot and I have grandchildren who play with them too, thinking they are fun to pack toys in!

Apparently it is an issue, because Senator Charles Schumer, a NY Democrat, is asking for a federal investigation into it. His concern lies mostly with the reusable shopping bags being eventually thrown away. Many of these being thrown in a landfill will surely cause lead contamination.

Some of us even wash these reusable shopping bags. Does the lead leach out into the wash water? Are we flooding the sewers and septic tanks with water that is tainted with lead? I don't know and this early in the investigation, nobody else probably does either.

As If Lead Isn't Enough...

If the fact that your reusable shopping bags are full of lead doesn't make you want to throw them out, how about them being full of E- Coli? There's a pleasant thought, you are packing your newly purchased groceries into a bag full of an infectious bacteria.

In 2009, 25 reusable bags were tested for bacteria and 30 % of them had amounts higher than to be considered safe, while 65% of the bags tested for some amount of bacteria. If you are wondering how bacteria gets in there, think about the things you put in the reusable shopping bags.

If the meat you pack into them is not packaged tight from the grocery store, you run the risk of blood and juices leaking onto the bag. You may or may not notice it as you hurry to put your groceries away. Do you remember to wash all of your reusable shopping bags before your next trip to the store?

Quite honestly, I don't. I guess I'll be paying better attention from now on, or I think I'll find me some good old American made, non lead material and sew my own shopping bags. What do you all think? Do you plan to keep using your reusable shopping bags? I bet you are checking your labels about now, aren't you?

Sources: Local News

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2010/11/15/con-plastic-bag-contamination.html

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/environment/2010-11-15-toxicbags15_st_N.htm