Bright, colorful kids’ clothes may come with a hidden risk: toxic lead.
Fast fashion has made it easier and more affordable to keep up with children who quickly outgrow their clothes. However, early research suggests that some of these garments may come with a hidden hazard: lead. After testing shirts from several retailers, undergraduate researchers found that every sample exceeded U.S. federal safety limits. Their analysis also indicates that even short periods of chewing on these fabrics (which young kids tend to do) could expose children to harmful levels of lead.
The findings were presented at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
What Sparked the Investigation Into Lead Exposure
Kamila Deavers, who led the study, became interested in lead contamination after her young daughter briefly showed elevated lead levels linked to toy coatings. This occurred before stricter federal limits were introduced. Today, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission sets a 100-parts-per-million (ppm) limit for lead in children’s products such as toys and clothing.
Deavers now works with undergraduate researchers in her chemistry lab at Marian University to identify everyday sources of heavy metal exposure and share their findings with the local community.
“I started to see many articles about lead in clothing from fast fashion,” says Deavers. “And I realized not too many parents knew about the issue.”
How Lead Can End Up in Clothing
Earlier research has shown that lead can appear in metal components of children’s clothing, including zippers, buttons, and snaps, sometimes leading to product recalls. But lead has also been detected directly in fabrics, including items sold to adults.
According to Deavers, some manufacturers use lead(II) acetate as a low-cost way to help dyes adhere to fabric and produce bright, long-lasting colors.
Why Lead Exposure Is Especially Dangerous for Children
Cristina Avello and Priscila Espinoza, both pre-med students at Marian University, joined the project to study how fast fashion might affect children’s health. They also saw the work as a chance to combine scientific research with community education on an issue that often goes unnoticed.
Lead exposure is harmful at any level and has been linked to behavioral problems, damage to the brain and central nervous system, and other health effects. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, children under 6 years old are at the highest risk.
“Not only are children the most vulnerable to the effects of lead, but they’re also the population that is going to be putting their clothes in their mouths,” says Avello.
Testing Reveals Elevated Lead Levels Across Shirts
The researchers examined 11 shirts in a range of colors, including red, pink, orange, yellow, gray, and blue, purchased from four retailers that included fast-fashion and discount brands.
“We saw that the shirts we tested were all over the allowed limit for lead of 100 ppm,” says Espinoza.
Across all brands, brighter fabrics such as red and yellow tended to contain higher levels of lead than more muted tones. Although the sample size was limited, none of the items tested met U.S. federal safety standards.
Simulating Lead Exposure From Chewing on Fabric
In a second phase of the study, the team simulated how the body might absorb lead if children mouthed or chewed on clothing. They recreated stomach conditions to estimate how much lead could become available for absorption.
Using these results, the researchers modeled potential exposure during mouthing behavior (e.g., sucking, holding, or chewing on fabric). Their findings suggest that this type of exposure could exceed the daily lead ingestion limit for children set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Deavers notes that these estimates are likely conservative. Even so, repeated exposure over time could raise a child’s blood lead levels enough to require clinical monitoring.
Could Washing Spread Lead to Other Clothes?
The team plans to expand their work by testing more garments and analyzing whether higher lead content in fabric leads to greater absorption.
They also want to study how laundering affects lead(II) acetate. This includes whether contaminated clothing could transfer lead to other items during washing and how different detergents interact with the chemical. One concern is that washing could create a lead-containing residue inside washing machines, which would need to be removed to prevent contamination from entering wastewater.
Calls for Safer Textile Dyeing Alternatives
The researchers hope their early findings will encourage more thorough screening of clothing before it reaches consumers and push the textile industry to adopt safer dyeing methods.
Alternatives already exist for fixing dyes to fabrics while maintaining vibrant color. These include natural mordants derived from plants rich in tannins, such as oak bark, pomegranate peel, and rosemary, as well as alum, which is considered environmentally safe.
“But if you want to change the clothing industry’s technology, that will cost a lot of money,” says Deavers. Without pressure from consumers or policymakers, manufacturers may have little incentive to switch.
Raising Awareness About Hidden Risks in Kids’ Clothing
Ultimately, the researchers aim to increase awareness about a potential source of lead exposure that many families may not consider. By sharing this information, they hope consumers can make more informed decisions about children’s clothing.
Avello concludes, “Everything that we’re doing is only important and helpful if we talk about it.”
Meeting: ACS Spring 2026
The research was funded by internal grants from Marian University and Sigma Zeta.
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1 Comment
feminazi framing, by excluding boys, the image could have shown a boy or a boy and a girl, also, who’s more likely to chew their clothes