I went into Lowe’s 3 weeks ago for a roll of fencing to use as tomato cages and a trellis for beans and cukes. I needed a roll, since I have so many plants, and I was looking for coated wire so it would last a little longer than uncoated. 

My local Home Depot didn’t have any fencing, and the local hardware stores are so out-stocked by the big boxes that they are hardware boutiques, not full service stores. So, I was stuck with Lowe’s. 

I found what I needed at a reasonable price and took the roll of fencing home and tossed it into my garden shed. The next day, I grabbed the roll, and started to unwrap the shrink-wrap, when I noticed on the bottom of the spool (showing since the roll fell over in the shed) that there was a warning sticker. The sticker reads: 

WARNING: This product contains lead, a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. Wash hands after handling. 

This was right next to the Made in China sticker. 

Yikes! I was in danger just handling the stuff.  I had been that close to also cutting it and sticking it in the ground around my tomatoes! My organic tomatoes! Really, my heart was pounding and I had the sense that I had dodged a bullet. If the roll had not fallen over in the shed, I would never have thought to look at the bottom. I’d be sucking lead along with my salsa!

I thought, surely there is some warning on the main label, but no such warning exists anywhere on the main or top labels. I thought of the many purchasers of this product, taking it home in good faith and putting it where their kids play, where their pets roam, near their wells and in their gardens. Thanks Lowe’s for letting us know so clearly!

I took the roll back and explained to the Returns clerk exactly why I was returning it. She seemed to understand and I asked her to tell the manager that AT LEAST they should move the warning stickers up onto the main label so a customer could make their own decision whether it would be safe in their yard or now. She agreed. 

Not trusting to the chain of command in a store where employees are short-staffed and poorly paid, I returned in 2 weeks and sure enough, the fencing was still there, and the label was still hidden on the bottom. Not only that, but I started looking at all the Garden Plus products, which included coated wire fencing and several other uncoated products.

Notice that you only have one choice for coated wire fencing.  

Hardware Cloth, chicken wire and other rolled wire products made by Garden Plus 

This label reads: WARNING: Proposition 65 - a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. *

I went to ask for the manager and got the assistant manager. I was extra polite, and explained that I wanted to show him a problem with a product in the garden section. He was relaxed and cooperative, up until we got to the fencing area and I showed him the labels. He got very tense and insisted that surely the company had done the research and that it was safe. I said, if it’s so safe, why is there a warning just to handle the product? I asked again to have the warning label moved up where it could be seen. He got very antsy and excused himself and I called after him that I’d be back in a week to check. He practically ran away at that point. 

My request is for any of you who shops at Lowe’s for their gardening products to check and see if the same products are there, and make the same request to the manager. Maybe they’ll see that we are serious about our health, even if they are not. 

UPDATE!- here is a photo of American-made fencing by Red Brand, made from 100% US steel, by Keystone Steel & Wire,  a company in Bartonville, IL, in business since 1889. There ARE alternatives to buying Chinese products.

Just for your information, below are some EPA facts about lead and links to find out more.  

*Proposition 65, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, was enacted as a ballot initiative in November 1986. The Proposition was intended by its authors to protect California citizens and the State's drinking water sources from chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm, and to inform citizens about exposures to such chemicals. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Environmental Protection Agency - 

Facts about lead

FACT: Lead exposure can harm young children and babies even before they are born.

FACT: Even children who seem healthy can have high levels of lead in their bodies.

FACT: You can get lead in your body by breathing or swallowing lead dust, or by eating soil or paint chips containing lead.

In soil around a home.

Soil can pick up lead from exterior paint, or other sources such as past use of leaded gas in cars, and children playing in yards can ingest or inhale lead dust.

Household dust. Dust can pick up lead from deteriorating lead-based paint or from soil tracked into a home.

Childhood lead poisoning remains a major environmental health problem in the United States.

People can get lead in their body if they:

• -Put their hands or other objects covered with lead dust in their mouths.
• -Eat paint chips or soil that contains lead.
• -Breathe in lead dust, especially during renovations that disturb painted surfaces.

Lead is more dangerous to children because:

• -Babies and young children often put their hands and other objects in their mouths. These objects can have lead dust on them.
• -Children's growing bodies absorb more lead.
• -Children's brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead.

If not detected early, children with high levels of lead in their bodies can suffer from:

• -Damage to the brain and nervous system
• -Behavior and learning problems, such as hyperactivity
• -Slowed growth
• -Hearing problems
• -Headaches

Lead is also harmful to adults. Adults can suffer from:

• -Reproductive problems (in both men and women)
• -High blood pressure and hypertension
• -Nerve disorders
• -Memory and concentration problems
• -Muscle and joint pain

~~~~~~~~~~

Links:

National Gardening Association 

Lead contamination in Urban Gardens (primarily about auto exhaust, but the same warnings apply)

Lead and Environmental Health / National Institute of Health/ Environmental Health and Toxicology

A compilation of links to web sites on lead that provide an overview of the problem, glossaries and dictionaries, data and research, and literatures sources. Spanish language materials are also available.

NIEHS Lead Resources /National Institute of Health/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

NIEHS consumer education about lead in the environment

Lead Poisoning: Fact Sheet Library/National Safety Council

National Safety Council fact sheet on prevalence of lead exposure, known health effects, testing for lead in the home and reducing lead exposure.