Danger at Disneyland: Lead Poisoning
The “happiest place on Earth” just became a little less happy. Today, the Center for Environmental Health (CEH), the Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation (Mateel), and the Ecological Rights Foundation (ERF) reported on high levels of lead found at Disney’s California theme parks, Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.
In one item at Disneyland that is accessible to children, independent testing found lead at a level that is 2,600 times the state safety standard. Other lead-tainted items included a leaded brass “Sword in the Stone” attraction that children are encouraged to pull on for several minutes while a park photographer poses them for picture taking, and a leaded brass hand railing at an ice cream shop that children handle and run their hands along for several minutes while waiting in long lines for ice cream cones.
Disney has known about the lead hazards at Disneyland for nine months – yet the company has failed to take action to protect children! Please join us in telling Disney, End Lead Threats at Disneyland – today!
This video taken at Disneyland clearly shows that children handle and play with these lead hazards. Independent testing shows that high levels of lead can come off of these tainted items, at levels many times higher than state safety standards permit.
If you go to Disneyland, be sure to have your children wipe or wash their hands frequently. And tell Disney, Get the Lead Out of Disneyland!
You can also see the KTLA news video below, with an interview of CEH’s own Caroline Cox.