More than half of the 68 sets of Christmas lights tested in a U.S. environmental group’s study contained more lead than federal regulators allow in children’s products, with some containing more than 30 times those limits, Bloomberg News reports.
Christmas lights are not regulated as children’s products, and thus do not need to meet the lead standards established for items such as toys. Still, “the last thing families want to be worrying about during the holidays is whether they are exposing their children to toxic chemicals by decorating their tree,” said Jeff Gearhart, research director at the Ecology Center, an Ann Arbor, Mich.,-based nonprofit group that conducted the study.
Lead is a common component in vinyl, which is used to coat the wires and bulb sockets of Christmas lights.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission permits a standard of 300 parts per million for lead in children’s products. In 2011, the level is scheduled to drop to 100 parts per million.
Of the 68 products tested, 37 had lead levels above 300 parts per million, while seven tested at over 10,000 parts per million, more than 30 times the allowable limit for children.
According to the study, Home Depot sells two brands of lights that tested at 450 parts per million. The company did not respond to an email asking for comment.
A spokesman for GE Lighting, whose lights included in the test also exceeded the 300 parts per million standard for children’s products, said, “We do not believe that these products present significant risk to consumers.”
A Consumer Product Safety Commission spokesman, Scott Wolfson, said the biggest potential hazard from Christmas lights is the risk of electrical shocks and fire from undersized wiring or cracks in the lights.
To reduce the dangers, consumers should make sure lights carry a label from an independent testing lab, and check whether they have been recalled, he said. “Holiday lights are not children’s products and CPSC advises parents to not allow children to handle or play with these lights,” Wolfson added.
The Ecology Center also recommends that consumers wash their hands after handling their Christmas lights to reduce lead exposure.
