Lead-filled bounce houses face lawsuit

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California Attorney General Jerry Brown filed a lawsuit against several businesses that rent out bounce houses on the basis that they contain a lead concentration that is far above the federal and state limits. Creative Commons photo by Flickr user StarrGazr.

Who knew that colorful, springy blowup houses found at parties and fairs could be havens for lead? State officials — and now they are doing something about it.

Attorney General Jerry Brown has filed a lawsuit against several businesses that rent out children’s bounce houses, claiming that their structures violate the federal and state lead limit, according to a recent story on KTVU.

Testing from the Center for Environmental Health showed high levels of lead from 5,000 to 29,000 parts per million. The federal limits are 90 parts per million for painted surfaces and 300 for all other parts. Brown told KTVU: “Kids at birthday parties can spend hours playing in bounce houses. The goal of our lawsuit is to eliminate any chance they will be exposed to lead while they’re jumping around having a good time.”

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