How To Keep LEAD Out Of Your Christmas

*Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.  This means that by clicking through and purchasing products, I will get paid a commission at no additional cost to you. Now let’s get that lead out of Christmas, shall we?

Lead isn’t merry or bright…

I’m about to expose myself as the big cheeseball that I am {If it wasn’t obvious}. In fact, I embrace it. I geek out dreaming about that moment when the shopping, floors, dishes, windows, puppy clean-up, gardening, laundry, cooking, farm chores *repeat*  are all done for the day.

But I settle for the more realistic moment when the tree is sparkling, and the family has gathered around in cozy somethings watching “A Christmas Story” sans iPhones. Certain family members are turning their noses up to our goat’s milk hot chocolate while the kids and I are drinking it down in complete bliss. This softens our anticipation of those grass-fed-butter-coconut-sugar-einkorn-chocolate-chip cookies that are just beginning to permeate the room.

Right about that moment when Ralphie’s dreams are about to be shattered by the realization that he just might shoot his eye out, I make that fateful mistake of glancing at my emails. {Ok I was hiding my iPhone under my leg}, Of course, someone’s annoying message grabs my attention, and I’m suddenly jarred into awareness that we’re all sitting in a cloud of LEAD dust. It’s in our tree, the lights, and even the decorations that my kids have played with every. single. year. since they were BABIES.

The temptation to go sour-grapes on my clean living aspirations surfaces for a tiny moment but sharply retreats when I think about my family’s future. “Well, what now?” Before we get our bloomers in a bunch, let’s look at the facts. After all, in the grand scheme of things, maybe it won’t be that hard to change a few things once again.

Lead Does This

Yes, Lead is a dangerous element that can cause significant health problems. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, elevated lead levels contribute to:

• decreased IQ, height, nerve connection
• brain disease, seizures, coma
• increased learning disabilities and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ( ADHD)
• aggressive behavior
• delayed onset of puberty
• deaths from cardiovascular disease
• high levels can be fatal

Lead Hides Here

potential sources of lead that are still common today

• soil
• water pipes- yep, even “lead-free” plumbing can contain up to 8% lead.
• brass or chrome-plated brass faucets {LEACHES SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS, ESPECIALLY WITH HOT WATER}
• cheap jewelry
• artificial turf
• vinyl products such as lunch boxes, purses, shower curtains, auto upholstery, dolls, bibs, PVC pipes {I actually remember chewing a strip of vinyl off the piping in our car’s upholstery as a kid. What can I say- it had a sweet taste to it. Apparently, lead tastes sweet. Oy.}
• electrical cords
• crystal
• dishes
• cookware 😨
• Christmas string lights and trees 😰
• bullet fragments from a  gunshot wound 😱

Does A Tree Or A Few String Lights Really Make A Difference?

Thankfully lead exposure has declined significantly due to changes in laws since the 70s, however, it is still a huge problem. Testing children for lead is not mandatory in the US and is largely overlooked.

And it turns out that there is no safe threshold for lead exposure. According to the PubMed article in that link, Lead exposure to babies in the womb has shown correlation with antisocial behavior and schizophrenia. And low and medium lead concentrations in blood have been linked to behavioral disorders, generalized anxiety disorder, and depression. High blood level concentrations correlate with psychotic symptoms like delusions and hallucinations but more rarely with psychotic syndromes.

Meh?

Some say meh, just use common sense. Just wash hands after touching ornaments etc. and you’re good to go. But what about that dust accumulating on the presents under that PVC tree? Or all those times when the cat or dog brushes by flinging dust particles into the air you breathe? Or what if a family member forgets to wash their hands after helping decorate, and eats that cookie? And who by now isn’t already thinking about mouthing babies and helpful toddlers? Smiley baby joe loves to give that PVC Santa with a jolly red nose a nice big slobbery “kiss” from time to time. And YES, this can be significantly dangerous.

Heavy Reality

The truth is that trace amounts of lead do end up on our hands after touching most electrical cords, whether they are Christmas lights or computer chargers. Lead-containing dust does fall from PVC trees that contain it, right onto the presents that will be torn into with a fury. The inhalable dust cloud probably won’t even be seen. In fact, it probably won’t change anyone’s life in an obvious way. But it certainly could accumulate and lead to a future of struggles that, by then, will seem unrelated and be hard to figure out.

The exposure in these scenarios can, in fact, be serious. Even the lowest detectable levels are associated with cognitive impairment in children.

What to do?

Safer Trees

Initially, I was going to share the link to where we bought our lead-free-made-in-the-USA tree a few years ago, but it looks as though the company is no longer around. After weeks of re-researching the matter, it looks as though there have been several attempts at lead-free tree production with lots of broken links. And really, from an environmental perspective, I don’t feel good about fake trees. So, if I had to do it all over again I would go for option 4 below.

Here’s what’s available currently

1. Amazon now has some tree sellers that are making a percentage of their needles with PE (polyethylene). It’s not a great option, because there’s still plenty of lead in the trees. Another thing to consider is that flame retardants are used on artificial trees regardless of whether they are made with PVC or PE. I personally don’t think spending this kind of dough on something that’s still a source of lead and other toxins is worth it. And did you know PVC trees have an “expiration date?” At around the 10-year mark, the PVC begins to break down.
2. Then there’s the option to get a real cut tree. Ours was naked and discarded a week before Christmas. So much work to vacuum up all those needles.  Come to find out, they often contain mold that can make people very sick. They are also often sprayed with toxic chemicals. I’ll never make that mistake again.
3. Organic live trees to plant in your yard can be fun. My parents did this and I loved it, but somehow never made the connection that it was the source of my allergy misery. I’m not sure if this would be any safer in regards to mold issues than a cut tree. Some people dig it back up every year which would sure be thrifty!
4. A couple of options that I think are pretty darn cool are these Norfolk Island Pine trees below. They are tropical so they can live indoors all year and clean your air as they slowly grow up to 6 feet or more indoors! Planted in the ground outdoors, they will grow up to 200 feet!

Click on the pictures to check Amazon for prices and reviews, or to buy. These are my affiliate links so purchases made help to support this blog. Many thanks.

If you don’t mind waiting a little longer for the tree to get big, you can save a few bucks and get this smaller one:

Pretty right? I have no idea if the felt snowflakes are lead-free, so I would probably just request they leave those off and find a fun Pinterest project to do with my kids. I’ll update this when I contact the company to learn more.

Safer Lights

1. We turned to IKEA for this matter. They have low-lead lights. They’re not lead-free, but they have to comply with RoHS standards of the European Union of less than 1000ppm AND standards of other countries that are more stringent. That’s still 10x higher than what’s allowed in children’s toys. But it’s the best that I can find at this time. Please comment if you know of any lights that are totally lead-free as I have yet to find them.  Note: Some of them don’t have female and male parts so just be aware they may not connect to make larger strands. We end up using a few extension cords to overcome this issue. They’re not hard to hide. But I’m pretty sure they are made with lead. Sigh, the things I realize as I write this stuff.
2. SUPRISE! These mini lights look like a great option and you can find them at Walmart!

Safer Gifts

A real true hero for anyone trying to get lead out of their environment is Tamara Rubin of Lead Safe Mama. She actually rents a machine that can assess the amount of lead in things. She’s been doing this for years, and has a list of items that are sold on Amazon that she has approved! This is such a huge service. Her website and newsletter have been incredibly helpful to me. I didn’t tell her I was going to do this, but I want to surprise her to thank her for all she does. And she just had a Birthday so Happy Belated Birthday Tamara! My blog is humble and new so it may not do much, but hopefully, it will boost her moral if nothing else. Buying items from this link will help support her so by all means, please do some safe Christmas shopping from her list!

NOTE: Avoid Dollar Stores & Store-bought Decor

We all probably know by now that dollar stores have been found to have a high percentage of toxic items such as described here. And just google lead in Target and Walmart items. It’s not reassuring.

While it may seem a bit daunting to take concerns about lead into consideration, as it was for me, I do believe that it could keep our families safer. In the grand scheme of things just a few little changes really isn’t that big of a deal is it? What do you think? Have you struggled with this? Was this helpful? I appreciate your feedback.

For more Christmas wisdom check out 21 Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas. Some Keep On Giving.

Have a safe and healthy Christmas this year!

It’s always good to see you at the grove! Liz Jaconelli