Ward and Montana Stone: Father-daughter safety sleuthing team

Genetics may help explain why 11-year-old Montana Stone became so interested in what was in her jewelry box.

Montana’s mother is a biology teacher who, according to Montana, frequently cautioned her children about going to old houses because of lead paint hazards. Montana’s father is a leading wildlife pathologist for New York State's Department of Environmental Conservation who developed a lead testing process to determine if animals had been killed by bullets illegally when hunters were claiming they had used only a bow and arrow.

So it’s really not hard to understand why Montana started wondering earlier this year if the favorite items in her jewelry box contained lead. “There were a lot of people just talking about lead in jewelry and I started wondering if there's lead in [mine],” Montana recalled in a recent telephone interview.

Her curiosity was all that her father needed to launch a full-scale testing of children’s jewelry. Together, Montana and her dad went to stores near their home in Albany and bought dozens of pieces of children’s jewelry. “We bought about 75 pieces and tested into the night,” at Stone’s office, the elder Stone said. “I would hand a piece to him and he would test it,” Montana added. (Don’t worry, both wore surgical gloves so they wouldn’t get exposed to any lead). What they found was distressing: “We found lots and lots of lead, far more than half” of the pieces they purchased, Ward Stone said. And some of those pieces had very high levels of lead.

The father-daughter team then bought more items, including metal beads at Michaels Stores, where Montana buys a lot of arts and crafts items. Those items also had high levels of lead.

Disturbed by the findings, Ward Stone took his results to the office of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The staff conducted another round of tests resulting in both a nationwide recall of more than 500,000 pieces of jewelry as well as a settlement with 12 companies, including the national chains of Michaels and Big Lots, in which they promised to stop selling lead-tainted items in their stores.

Father Stone gives all the credit to his daughter. “If it had not been for her, Dad would not have done what he did”—or continues to do. Both Montana and her dad are still buying and testing jewelry. And they’ve expanded their studies to include plates and mugs as well. The results continue to be disturbing; much of the dishware has been coated with lead paint, Stone reports.

Certainly, both Montana and Ward Stone deserve to be added to our list of Safety Crusaders for their curiosity, persistence, diligence—and results.

If you know of any safety crusaders who should be added to our list, please let us know.

Comments

[John Casbergue, Ph.D.]

This was a most helpful example of how we can benefit from not only Consumers Report but a great example how CR members/supporters can contribute to our nation's consumer/children's safety. Our federal government has totally abdicated any oversight of imported products. While toys have appropriate consumer interest but overlooked and/or under reported are the lack of real inspection, as required by law are our pharmaceutical corporations Chinese companies and the safety of their production sites in formulating the drugs and/or ingredients due to their relatively low monetary costs. The costs to the US/other consumer is lack of product safety.
Another example is the import of Asian fresh seafood. It has been reported that only 5% of the Chinese fresh seafood products are inspected for unsafe additives and biological hazards. Yet, 85% of those inspected are contamined with one or both of these hazards to the public health.
The present administration has chosen to understaff these and other public safety and homeland security by underfunding these priorities.
Consumers Reports appears to be the most active in raising public awareness with our national media corporations giving only lip-service when a death(s) occurs if then. The reduction of ownership of television/print & other media is being cornered by corporate interest.
This is a national issue and deserves serious attention and action by our national & state governments as well as citizens making their concerns known to our representatives at all levels! Their accountability must be demonstrated.
This is one person's perspective and suggestions. I hope others will provide their views and calls for action.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide a forum(s) for public input on so many issues.