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Lead

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

lead
15 current policies in 6 states
28 adopted policies in 12 states
  • Current Policies
  • Adopted Policies
  • Both
Policy Details for Lead

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.

Bill Tracker for Lead

Current Policy

Illinois
SB1985: Prohibits the use of lead ammunition to take wildlife in State parks and natural areas.
Maryland
HB1722: Requires the Department of the Environment to adopt regulations to establish procedures to conduct environmental investigations to determine lead hazards.
Minnesota
HF1356: Prohibits the use and possession of ammunition containing lead when taking deer during the regular firearms season.
New Jersey
A559: Prohibits the manufacture and sale of certain children's products containing cadmium, lead, and/or mercury.
New Jersey
A2179: Prohibits the sale of candy with intentionally added cadmium, lead, or mercury.
New York
S2710: Bans manufacture and sale of children's toys and products containing a host of toxic chemicals.
New York
S2433: Restricts the sale of jewelry containing lead.
New York
A4345: Requires disclosure of lead used in seasonal and decorative lighting products.
New York
S4188: Prohibits the manufacture, sale, and use of brake friction material containing cadmium, lead, or mercury.
New York
S4465: Requires labelling of seasonal decorative lighting using lead as an additive flame retardant.
New York
A7739: Prohibits the sale of pet products containing toxic chemicals listed on New Yorks' Priority Chemicals and Chemicals of High Concern lists.
New York
A8266: Bans the manufacture and sale of children's products containing dangerous chemicals.
New York
S7660: Prohibits the sale of pet products containing priority chemicals.
Washington
HB1738: Prohibits sale of vehicle brake material containing Cadmium, Lead, and/or Mercury.
Washington
HB2805: Prohibits the sale of lead ammunition to individuals under the age of 21.

Adopted Policy

California
AB 1681: Requires jewelry only be made of only approved metals, not lead. (Adopted in 2006)
California
AB 2694: Bans the sale of any toy containing compounds of lead in excess of federal standards, or soluble compounds of antimony, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, selenium, or barium. (Adopted in 2008)
California
AB 2901: Bans jewelry unless made of Class 1, 2 or 3 materials, sets small trace amount limits on lead in children’s jewelry. (Adopted in 2008)
California
SB 757: Bans lead in wheel weights. (Adopted in 2009)
California
SB 1365: Bans the sale of toys contaminated with any toxic substance, including lead, mercury and cadmium. (Adopted in 2010)
California
AB 501: Bans mercury, cadmium, and lead from brake friction material. (Adopted in 2013)
California
SB 346: Bans brake material containing lead, mercury, and cadmium in amounts greater than .1% by weight. (Adopted in 2010)
Connecticut
HB 5650: Bans any children’s product that has been designated a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, requires any lead-containing products that children may come into contact with to bear a warning label. (Adopted in 2008)
Delaware
HB 362: Bans sale of toys with toxic substances (defined as lead or other unsafe substances), their use in daycare facilities, and creates a list of unsafe toys. (Adopted in 2008)
Illinois
SB 2860: Bans lead in children’s products, requires warning labels on other lead-containing products. (Adopted in 2008)
Illinois
SB 3347: Bans lead and mercury in wheel weights. (Adopted in 2010)
Indiana
HB 1589: Requires video display manufacturers to state whether the devices exceed maximum concentration values for chemicals including lead, mercury and cadmium. (Adopted in 2009)
Maine
LD 1034: Establishes a lead poisoning prevention fund to identify lead hazards and take precautionary action, create a media campaign around it, and send educational material to families with kids living in older homes with lead. (Adopted in 2005)
Maine
LD 2053: Tests children’s products for lead, informs public of results, and requests products be removed from shelves. (Adopted in 2008)
Maine
LD 986: Bans lead and mercury wheel weights. (Adopted in 2009)
Maine
Executive Order: Authorizes DEP to submit legislation to phase out mercury batteries, and improve mercury thermostat recovery. Creates a report assessing lead-free alternatives in consumer products, and one on alternatives to the flame retardant DecaBDE. Underscores commitment to environmentally preferable procurement, including lead-free wheel weights and uniforms that don't require cleaning with perchloroethylene. Establishes Governor’s Task Force to Promote Safer Chemicals in Consumer Products. (Adopted in 2006)
Maryland
HB 62: Bans lead-containing children’s products. (Adopted in 2008)
Maryland
HB 119: Requires manufacturers test children’s products for lead. (Adopted in 2009)
Michigan
HB 4132: Bans lead in children’s jewelry. (Adopted in 2007)
Michigan
HB 4399: Bans lead in lunch boxes. (Adopted in 2007)
Michigan
SB 174: Bans lead in toys and child care articles. (Adopted in 2007)
Minnesota
HF 2542 / SF 2192: Bans added lead and mercury from wheel weights, bans triclosan from hand sanitizers and soaps, modifies an existing formaldehyde ban. (Adopted in 2014)
Minnesota
SF 1262 / HF 1656: Bans lead in jewelry. (Adopted in 2007)
New York
S 8020 / A 8687A: Bans lead and mercury in wheel weights. (Adopted in 2010)
Vermont
S 152: Bans the manufacture and sale of any children’s product containing lead. (Adopted in 2008)
Vermont
S 77: Requires manufacturers to implement and fund a system for the collection and recycling of electronic devices containing lead, mercury, and other hazardous substances. (Adopted in 2010)
Washington
HB 2647: Bans children’s products containing lead, cadmium and phthalates, creates a list of chemicals of high concern and requires their disclosure in children’s products. (Adopted in 2008)
Washington
HB 1033: Requires lead wheel weights be replaced with environmentally preferable wheel weights. (Adopted in 2009)

Toxic Chemicals