Marblehead hosts public test site for toxic toys

MARBLEHEAD – Parents worried that children’s toys purchased for the holidays might contain toxic ingredients can find out on Dec. 22 when a temporary toy testing facility will be set up at the Marblehead Community Center.The Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow, a coalition of environmental and public health advocacy groups, in partnership with Sen. Thomas McGee and Rep. Lori Ehrlich, will host the testing facility at 10 Humphrey St. from 6-8 p.m.According to Elizabeth Saunders, spokeswoman for Boston-based Clean Water Action, Marblehead residents can bring toys and household items to the site where they will be tested for the presence of lead, cadmium, brominated flame retardants, arsenic or mercury – substances harmful to humans.”Due to time constraints, each person may bring three items to be tested,” Ehrlich said.The testing site was organized in response to the overwhelming demand for information about toxic chemicals in toys, she said.Ehrlich, whose district includes Marblehead, and McGee, the ranking Democrat among the Lynn delegation to the state Legislature, have been participating in a national effort to test popular holiday gifts for toxic ingredients. The legislators have been supporting the effort to pass the Safer Alternatives Bill.”Over 1,500 toys have been tested nationally and results are available nationally at www.HealthyToys.org,” said Ehrlich, noting that parents can easily learn how products rank from highest to lowest in terms of contamination with lead, cadmium and other toxic chemicals that are associated with developmental and learning disabilities, hormone problems and cancer.Ehrlich said residents of Marblehead and other North Shore communities are invited to bring products for testing.”To sample the toys a portable X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer will be used that identifies the elemental composition of materials,” she said, adding that the device is accurate and has been used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to screen packaging; U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to screen food; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for planetary exploration; and by many state and county health departments to screen for residential lead paint.The Safer Alternatives Bill would replace toxic chemicals in common household goods like toys with safer materials or substances.During the last legislative session, the bill passed the Senate unanimously but was not scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives before the session ended.