Lead
Lead's toxicity has long been known — yet it still lingers in many products, with disastrous effects on public health.

28 adopted policies in 12 states
- Current Policies
- Adopted Policies
- Both
Lead in Our Lives
Lead has made its way into a wide, wide range of products: paint, children's toys, baby bibs, jewelry, handbags, lunchboxes, artificial turf, wheel weights, lipstick, candy, and a range of industrial applications.
Lead In Our Bodies
Lead has a profound ability to damage children’s intellectual and behavioral development, and has been linked to learning disabilities, infertility, cancer, and increased risk of heart attacks. Lead interferes with a variety of body processes, and is toxic to many organs and tissues — including the heart, bones, intestines, kidneys, and reproductive and nervous systems.
Progress to Protect Health
Twelve states have passed twenty-eight lead policies, restricting its use in everything from jewelry to toys to the wheel weights in our cars. And the national and international communities are also taking action.
The Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008 set a limit for lead in children's products. Lead paint has been banned from residential uses in both the United States and United Kingdom, and national legislation also requires lead-free pipes for safer drinking water.