Eco Waste Coalition found most Christmas-themed products in the Philippines markets lacked proper certification and contained lead beyond the prescribed limit. (Photo: Eco Waste Coalition)
An environmental and consumer group in the Philippines has warned buyers against “unsafe” and "uncertified" Christmas-themed products that may pose risks to humans.
“Our campaign is in preparation for the Christmas season. We know that millions of consumers will be buying Christmas lights and toys. So, we need to make sure that what they buy is safe,” Robie Jarabo, executive secretary of EcoWaste Coalition, told UCA News on Nov. 29.
The coalition scrutinized Christmas-themed merchandise and found that 10 out of 15 products lacked certification from the Bureau of Philippine Standards. Eight contained lead beyond the prescribed limit, posing a health hazard to children.
“Children are exposed to high levels of lead because of such toys. Lead exposure is extremely dangerous for their brains and could result in low intelligence quotient (IQ) and low attention span,” Jarabo warned.
He cited a study by the World Health Organization that said around 1 million people, many of them children, die each year due to lead poisoning.
The coalition urged the authorities to beef up checks on uncertified Christmas lights and toys sold inside stores and by e-commerce companies.
It also advised consumers to buy products with valid certificates from the Philippine Standards (PS) or Import Commodity Clearance (ICC).
Christmas is known as Pasko in the Philippines, a former Spanish colony. Christmas festivities start in the Southeast Asian nation as early as November.
Several families buy Christmas lights and toys without government approval because of their low prices.
“The price of a good-quality Christmas light is 600 pesos (US$10) but the ones without PS and ICC stickers cost only 150 pesos,” said 35-year-old Tomas Minggona, a father of two.
He told UCA News that they have been using Christmas lights bought online for years, but they have been safe “so far."
“Sometimes this quality standard testing is just a way for rich corporations to downplay their competitors. They are threatened that others are selling the same products for much lower prices. So they make up stories like this,” Minggona added.
The Bureau of Fire Protection Department thanked the coalition for the “early warning.”
“Every year, we issue a warning for Filipino families to refrain from buying cheap and substandard Christmas lights as this is one of the sources of fires in Metro Manila,” its chief Louie Puracan told UCA News.
He stressed that every consumer looks for the certification to know whether products have complied with government standards and are safe for use.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), on the other hand, reminded the faithful that the true meaning of Christmas is not in the Christmas lights or decorations.
“The true meaning of Christmas is Christ himself. Thus, the invitation is to be more Christ-like, not in the colors or illumination these Christmas lights bring,” Bishop Jesse Mercado of Paranaque, chair of the Commission on Family and Life of the bishops conference, told UCA News.
