A new study on cars, child safety seats, back to school products, handbags and pet products finds more chemicals than you might think, but also manufacturers that are limiting the number of chemicals being used.

Healthystuff.org is a non-profit research group based in Michigan that began testing toys after the big recalls a few years ago. Yesterday the organization came out with its latest test results of 900 products.

Before I share some of the findings, keep in mind lead is hazardous when ingested and more dangerous for young children because their brains are still developing. So someone would have to either come in contact with the lead on their hands and transfer it to their mouth or ingest an item with high levels of lead.

Here are the key findings according to the organization:
• Pet Products - HealthyStuff.org tested over 400 pet products, including beds, chew toys, collars and leashes. Since there are no government standards for hazardous chemicals in pet products, it is not surprising that alarming levels of toxic chemicals were found. One quarter of all pet products had detectable levels of lead, including seven percent with levels higher than 300 ppm - the current Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) standard for lead in children's products.
• Automobiles - HealthyStuff.org tested nearly 700 new and used vehicles, from 1980 to 2010 model year vehicles. The US-made Pontiac G5 and Chevy Cobalt rated best overall 2009 vehicles. Levels of some chemicals found in vehicles are 5-10 times higher than in homes or offices. Since the average American spends more than 1.5 hours in their car every day, this can be a major source of toxic chemical exposure.
• Children's Car Seats - Infant and child car seats contain chemical additives that can have adverse health effects on babies and young children. Over half (58%) of car seats contain one or more hazardous chemicals, including PVC, BFRs and heavy metals. Three examples of car seats that had none of the chemicals tested for are: Baby Trend Flex-Loc; the Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 Car Seat; and the Graco Turbo Booster. Despite the toxic chemicals, it is vital to use a car seat for your child because they do save lives.
• Back-to-School Products - HealthyStuff.org screened over 60 common back-to-school supplies, including backpacks, pencil cases, binders and lunchboxes. Far too many of these supplies are made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and 22% contained detectable levels of lead. Overall nearly 90% of back-to-school supplies contained one or more chemicals of concern.
• Women's Handbags - HealthyStuff.org tested over 100 women's handbags and detected lead in over 75% of the bags analyzed. Sixty-four percent (64%) of the bags contained lead over 300 ppm - the CPSC limit for lead in children's products. Over half of the handbags contain more than 1,000 ppm lead.

I'm curious what you think about all of this.

Clearly some manufacturers are making products without all of these chemicals.

So do you think manufacturers should be required to follow stricter guidelines? Should they be testing their own products? Or do you think this is much to do about nothing?

Share your thoughts below.

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