Lead Paint Found in Baseball Belts, Capitola-Soquel Little League Responding

A study by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) found that a number of Little League baseball belts contained dangerous levels of lead paint, California Watch reported Monday.

According to the report, “four brightly colored belts contained as much as 8.5 percent lead, more than 280 times the legal limit.”

The tested belts found to be dangerous came from West Coast Shoes and Sporting Goods, Walmart, Sports Authority and Dick’s Sporting Goods in Bay Area locations. These retailers receive many of their goods from Champion and Adams, although the CEH findings did not state whether the belts came from those manufacturers.

West Coast Shoes and Sporting Goods has reportedly already removed the product from its shelves following the findings. 

Overexposure to lead paint can cause lead poisoning, which can have dire consequences.

Following the California Watch report, the Capitola-Soquel Little League wasted no time investigating how the findings may affect local youth baseball players. Upon hearing the news, Joe Gianelli, the league's marketing coordinator, contacted the environmental health agency for more information, and then followed up with  in Soquel and Jerry’s Sports in Santa Cruz, the local retailers from which the league orders its uniforms.

“The first thing I wanted to do was find out about safety and what our exposure is in this league,” Gianelli said. “I called Play it Again Sports Monday morning, and they don’t carry [the affected belts]. I put a call in to Jerry’s Sports, but I haven’t heard back from them yet, so I don’t know if they carry them.”

Gianelli said Big 5 is a third optional retailer that parents may have gone to for the belts. He has yet to discover if their products are potentially harmful.

Once he hears back from Big 5 and Jerry’s Sports, Gianelli plans to contact league parents to notify them of the situation.

In the interim, the league board had a meeting Tuesday evening to address how to handle predicaments of this nature both this season and in the future.

The Center for Environmental Health is offering to test the lead level of belts for free, so parents and league officials can safely cover their bases. They ask those who send in belts to provide return shipping materials.

“What I’m going to propose to the board is that we take a few of the belts early every year and make sure that they’re tested,” Gianelli said Tuesday.

Although they will not be required to do so by the league, Gianelli said he expects some parents to send their kids’ belts in for testing on their own.

While lead-painted belts are not near kids’ mouths the way that lead-painted toys often are, there is still plenty of cause for concern regarding these products.

“Popular belief is that, ‘Well, kids are not chewing up and eating belts. They should be fine.’ That’s not true,” Gianelli said. “They can get overexposed by just taking it on and off all season and rubbing their hands in that stuff and near their mouths.”