Luck-seekers warned vs. buying lucky charms, amulets laced with toxic chemicals

As the nation ushers in the Year of the Pig, an environmental group cautioned luck seekers about buying Feng Shui charms and amulets as some could be laced with dangerous levels of cadmium and lead.

The Ecowaste Coalition reportedly screened 20 assorted lucky charms and amulets from retailers in Binondo for toxic metals using a handheld X-ray instrument and found that 15 were contaminated with excessive levels of lead and cadmium.

According to the group's advisory, the levels were considered "way above" the 90 parts per million (ppm) limit for lead in paint under Philippine and US laws, and 100 ppm limit for cadmium in jewelry under the European Union regulation.

Cadmium of 1,906 to 293,000 ppm was detected in pendants adorning four red fabric bracelets and steel chain necklaces, while lead ranging from 1,324 to 57,300 ppm laced 11 lead-painted lucky charms and amulets, EcoWaste said.

The "worst" samples were taken from a stainless steel necklace with a pig pendant with at least 293,000 ppm of cadmium, as well as a red fabric bracelet with a pig adornment laced with at least 238,800 ppm, among others.

A "heavy" amount of lead was also found in "five lucky objects” that promise to yield five blessings (longevity, wealth, peace, wisdom, and righteousness) in the form of a holy gourd, dragon, lotus flower, windhorse and a three-legged frog.

At least 57,300 ppm of lead was also found on a lucky peach trinket.

According to the World Health Organization, lead “is a cumulative toxicant that affects multiple body systems, including the neurologic, hematologic, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and renal systems."

EcoWaste warned that lead exposure among children, even at low levels, can reportedly "interrupt and damage brain development and cause lifelong learning and behavioral problems,"  whereas exposure among adults can "bring about miscarriage in women, reduced sperm count in men, hypertension and other health issues."

“Cadmium and lead, which can accumulate in the body and damage human health, should not be present in consumer products, especially for items that are supposed to enhance good health and better life,” EcoWaste's chemical safety campaigner Thony Dizon said in a statement. — Margaret Claire Layug/MDM, GMA News