Physical harm such as choking on decorations or playing with the outlet where Christmas lights are plugged in are not the only concerns. Surprisingly, toxic chemicals like lead in PVC trees and lights also play a big role in creating an unsafe environment too. Christmas trees Most artificial … [Read more...]
Until recently, artificial Christmas trees were cut from compressed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sheets. Now there's a newer technology that allows manufacturers to create branch tips that are made from injection-molded polyethylene (PE) plastic using copies of live tree needles. It creates a … [Read more...]
The Ecology Center (HealthyStuff.org) tested 68 Christmas light sets and found that a shocking 54% of the products contained more than 300 parts per million of lead in PVC encased cords and light-bulb sockets - a level higher than the CPSC's standard for lead in children’s products. Products with … [Read more...]
We learned a lot about PVC and lead last year in our research on artificial Christmas trees. The toxic couple made yet another grand appearance as we turned our attention to Christmas lights this season. It turns out that lead is specifically chosen as the main stabilizer in the PVC casing used … [Read more...]
