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There is currently
a flood of information in the press. Where is the
truth in all of this information and counter information?
The root or essence of
the problem is anchored in the issue of quality.
For years, one inexpensive way to provide window
coverings is by selling consumers vinyl blinds that
are imported from foreign countries. Manufacturing
firms in those countries elected to use lead as an
inexpensive stabilizer for the vinyl. There are,
however, better stabilizing agents that are available
at a slightly higher cost.
The timeless adages of
Buy American and invest in quality echo out strongly
with this current dilemma. It is improper in this
instance to say that the consumer gets what they
paid for because no one deserves irreversible
toxic lead poisoning from a product they purchase. Although
there might be a slight initial savings, how much
has anyone really saved if there is lead contamination,
cords or chains that can cause accidental strangulation
of small children, or you simply have to replace
inferior products twice as often as a well made one.
So, how dangerous are vinyl
blinds containing lead? Well, if you compare it to
paint, lead-based paint is no longer available in
the United States for a good reason; it caused lead
poisoning.
Many companies in the United
States have elected not to sell vinyl blinds over
the years since these window coverings have sometimes
had a reputation for warping, discoloration and deterioration
over time.
Inevitably, it has been
proven in United States
Consumer Product Safety Commission laboratory tests that vinyl
blinds will indeed deteriorate from exposure to sunlight
and heat, forming a toxic
lead dust on the surface. Simply washing these blinds
is an ineffective measure since it absolutely does
not prevent further deterioration of the vinyl blinds
causing more bad dust to be produced on the surface.
The North Carolina Health
Department recently sampled more than 100 sets of
vinyl blinds finding that approximately 90%
had lead dust far above federal standards. In fact, a significant
percentage of these blinds had toxic lead levels
of 10 to more than 100 times above federal standards.
Additionally, the laboratories
of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the Army's
Aberdeen Test Center used electron microscope technology
to confirm that the plastic in blinds deteriorated
causing toxic lead dust to form on the blind slats.
Finally, the United States
Consumer Product Safety Commission has: 1) issued
a nationwide alert and 2) recommends
consumers completely remove and dispose of vinyl
mini-blinds in homes where children ages 6 or younger may be present.
What is the danger?
Lead poisoning is especially
acute for pregnant women or young children because
of their fast growing vulnerable tissue. Lead poisoning
is a malady that often produces no symptoms of sickness
until irreversible damage has occurred in the brain
and nervous system associated with behavioral problems,
learning disabilities, hearing problems, and growth
retardation.
Also remember, lead poisoning
is lead poisoning regardless of your age. The focus
on children is twofold: 1) because they have susceptible
developing tissue; 2) they are more likely to actually
come into physical contact with blind slats. Howeve
is a malady that often produces no symptoms of sickness
until irreversible damage has occurred in the brain
and nervous system associated with behavioral problems,
learning disabilities, hearing problems, and growth
retardation.
Also remember, lead poisoning
is lead poisoning regardless of your age. The focus
on children is twofold: 1) because they have susceptible
developing tissue; 2) they are more likely to actually
come into physical contact with blind slats. However,
the potential or danger is still there in the form
of toxic lead contaminated dust with vinyl deteriorating
blinds no matter the age or the gender of the occupant.
The United States Consumer
Product Safety Commission has stated that the lead
level on some blinds was so high that a child ingesting
dust from less than 1 square inch of blind a day
(by touching the blinds and placing their fingers
or hands in their mouths) could have dangerously
high blood levels after just two weeks to a month
of exposure.
Similar to the cord and
chain issue on mini and vertical blinds from last
year where several children accidentally died when
they became entangled and strangled in the cords/chains,
the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission
has issued a nationwide alert on lead contamination
on vinyl blinds just as they had done with dangerous
cords and chains.
Some
attempted to downplay that situation too by so-called "educating their
customers or prospective customers" with such
nonsense as not to fall for "new fancy gadgets
or gimmicks on blinds" such as a baton drawn
mechanism on vertical blinds instead of cords and
chains. However, now a year later most of them carry
the new improved products themselves complying with
safer standards. Likewise, some vendors may shortly
offer safe vinyl blinds, that is, after years of
unknowingly providing ones contaminated with lead.
Is this lead contamination
a serious realistic problem or issue? Just recently,
a 4-year-old boy in Oakland, California had in his
bloodstream more than five times the lead level considered
dangerous.
Liability: Some window
covering vendors will claim that up until now there
just wasn't any reason to believe there was a safety
hazard, and it wasn't common knowledge that vinyl
blinds were a source of lead contamination.
However,
if a distributor or manufacturer places in "the stream of commerce" a
defective product, they are directly responsible
for it or the damages it causes.
There could be foreseeable
plaintiff litigation, perhaps in the form of a class
action suit or individual cases brought against the
manufacturers, importers, sellers, or even rental
property owners that have provided these contaminated
blinds.
In
court, products like these would have to face the
well-known "Consumer
Expectation Test." That is, would the average
consumer expect to purchase a blind that poses a
potential toxic lead contamination threat to themselves
or their children? The jury would have to decide
that one.
In
summary: The best advice to avoid similar problems
is to "invest in well
constructed American made window coverings." Leave
the real bargains for someone else. Secondly, if
you wanted to be absolutely safe, and reduce the
likelihood of potential legal problems, you would
follow the recommendations of the United States Consumer
Product Safety Commission.
Buy American, buy wisely,
and buy apartment tough, long-lasting, durable, and
safe products for your rental properties.
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