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KYOTO, Japan, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Plastic shopping bags used in some Japanese supermarkets contain high levels of lead, probably from dyes used to tint them, researchers say.
A research team at Kyoto University Environment Research Center found some of the bags have lead levels 250 times that permitted by the European Union, Kyodo News Service reported.
The researchers collected samples of 350 types of colored bags in 2006 and 2007 and tested them for lead. Sixty of the bags had lead levels above the 100 ppm EU standard.
One bag had 25,000 ppm and three had 10,000 ppm or higher, while the average was 310 ppm.
Shinichi Sakai, who led the study, said the bags could be both an environmental and health hazard. He said residual lead after bags are burned can get into water and soil, while lead from the bags could contaminate food carried inside.
While the bags tested were all from Kyoto supermarkets, Sakai said the same ones are used throughout Japan. He said as much as 110 tons of lead may be used for plastic bags every year in the country.
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