A favorite summer activity is to grab a bucket of sidewalk chalk and escape to whatever world the kids can draw. Towns are mapped out for use with all those toy trucks and cars, hopscotch games, imagined worlds and even just names mark driveways and sidewalks. Recently, an email began circulating warning about high levels of lead in sidewalk chalk. In 2003 there were some voluntary recalls issued for chalk produced in China. Snopes.com does comfirm this. This new email brings up the question again: Is sidewalk chalk safe?
Our young artists have been using blackboard chalk on sidewalks and driveways long before sidewalk chalk came along. A big bucket of colors is hard for even adults to resist. It is possible to find sidewalk chalk that doesn't contain lead and why is it so important?
Lead is toxic because it is able to mimic other biologically important metals that our bodies use. Lead has no purpose in our bodies. Lead can bind to the same proteins and molecules as calcium, iron and zinc, but after it has connected to those metals, it cannot produce emzymes that are imperative to some biological processes in our bodies.
Chronic lead poisoning presents nausea, abdominal pain, irritability, lack of sleep, a metal taste in the mouth, lethargy, sometimes hyperactivity, and headaches. Lead poisoning has been know to cause seizures and comas. Gastrointestinal problems can also be present in extreme cases. Anemia, reproductive failures and kidney problems can also result. There is a direct link between early lead exposure in children and pronounced learning disabilities.
You and your budding artists want to use sidewalk chalk, and it can be safely done. There is a standard certification presented by The Art & Creative Materials Institute, Inc. (ACMI) in which all children's products are tested for lead. You can rest easy that you and your child are not being exposed to dangerous lead by making sure the brand you purchase is in the ACMI Certification Program. These companies include Binney & Smith (Crayola), Dixon Ticonderoga Co. (Prang Brand) and Roe Art Industries, Ind. (Rose Art Brand)
Now that you know you can safely use some sidewalk chalks, grab your bucket, check the label and have a summer filled with all you can imagine and draw.
Information for this article came from www.acminet.org, and Snopes.com
