Aside from the threat to health due to high sugar content, bottled soft drinks may endanger children due to lead on the label of the bottles, an ecological group said Sunday. The EcoWaste Coalition said it found the lead on the labels after subjecting the bottles to a test with an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer. “Lead was specifically detected on the paints used for the product labels, and not on the actual beverage,” said coordinator Anthony Dizon. Dizon said soft drinks are among the most widely distributed products and are easily available to children. He also said that while lead from the label may not leach into the liquid inside the glass bottle, lead may get into the bottle when it is washed for recycling, or ingested by a consumer, “particularly a child, when she touches the leaded part and then put her fingers in her mouth.” The group reiterated lead may be harmful even in small amounts, and may cause mental, physical, developmental and behavioral problems and even reproductive disorders. Dizon said the group will write to the soft drink companies and ask them to stop using leaded paint on their product labels. “If most soft drink companies can have their product names and emblems made with unleaded paint, we see no reason why other companies cannot do the same,” he said. Three products The group tested 15 soft drink products last July 5 and 6, and found three to contain lead way above the 90 ppm US limit Read More …
