Brew News: Can That Purse Kill You?

Read this before you go cop that new Fall handbag…

Consumer Affairs reports high levels of lead were found in more than 75% of the plastic women's handbags tested by HealthyStuff.org. 64% of the bags tested contained lead levels over 300 parts per million (ppm). More than half had lead greater than 1000 ppm. An orange bag made by Guess had 2581 ppm of lead on the outside of the bag. Another orange handbag made by Nine West had a lead level of 5718 ppm. What is it with these orange bags? And, a green Candies' clutch had 732 ppm of lead AND 88 ppm of friggin' arsenic. ARSENIC, people!

Does this mean we should stick to buying those Canal St. knockoffs?

You’re a Fake…Baby!

Does carrying a fake make you counterfeit? Yes, says the New York Times. The Times claims use of the Canal Street special may influence your moral behavior in other areas.

We’ve all heard by now that your fake Chanel is supporting bin Laden’s mix tape habit. But some experts now say there are actual studies that show people who wear fakes are more likely to cheat than those who rock the real stuff.

A Duke University professor actually presented his findings to the big wigs at Harper’s Bazaar. They liked it so much, they gave ole dude a Prada bag. Hell, Jem coulda told you carrying the real stuff makes you step your game up! And they could have given me a Marc Jacobs wallet for that little tidbit. I’m so easy to please, I swear.

Anyway, here’s the meat and taters of the study:

Half of the 250 subjects were told that the designer glasses they were wearing were “real,” while the other half were told they were wearing “counterfeits.” They were told to do a number of tasks that seemed to be related to the glasses, like evaluating scenery. But tucked into the sequence was a math test. Researchers found that 60 percent of those who were wearing “counterfeit” glasses cheated, while only 20 percent of those wearing “real” glasses cheated.

They also showed the groups a series of images and asked if there were more circles on the right or the left side of the square. The twist is that they were told they would be paid 10 times as much money if they picked the right side (even if it were not true). That motivated both groups to lie, but those wearing “fake” glasses lied more — and began lying sooner. “At some point, I am moving to cheat all the time,” he said. “We call this the ‘what the hell’ effect.”

The "what the hell" effect? So that's what it's called. Seems to me in this economy, we might just be willing to slide our morals just a teeny bit, no? Hey, it ain’t trickin’ if you got it!

Photo: Annika Mengisen/The New York Times