An environmentalist group is urging Metro Manila gift shoppers to refrain from buying cheap coffee mugs adorned with Christmas designs because they may contain toxic materials.
The warning comes after EcoWaste Coalition randomly sampled 35 Christmas mugs sold at different bargain stores around the metro. The samples tested positive for heavy metals such as antimony, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and mercury.
“As the gift-giving season comes closer, we advise the public to be on guard against products like ‘dirty’ Christmas mugs laced with toxic chemicals that are harmful to the health,” Thony Dizon, EcoWaste Coalition’s Project Protect coordinator was quoted in a Philippine Star report.
EcoWaste Coalition described the coffee mugs as having the following designs: Christmas bell, candy cane, evergreen tree, gingerbread man, mistletoe and holly, Santa Claus and his reindeers, snowflakes star, stocking, wreath and other Christmas symbols.
The coffee mugs sell for P20 to P85 a piece at Villalobos Street, Quiapo, Manila. Some of the other samples were bought from bargain shops in Mandaluyong City; Sta. Cruz, Manila; Alabang, Muntinlupa City; and Cubao, Quezon City.
Dizon explained that the samples were subjected to a handheld x-ray fluorescence (XRF) chemicals analyzer test last Oct. 31 and that all 35 samples tested positive for one or more of the heavy metals. The project coordinator noted that 29 of the samples contained more than the 90 parts per million (ppm) US limit for lead in paint.
Dizon explained that exposure to lead brings about serious health risks such as development delays in children, learning and behavioral problems, birth abnormalities as well as damage to the brain, kidneys and the central nervous system.
The group likewise said that they will be testing more items being sold in the market today for the benefit and protection of consumers all over Metro Manila.
