Toys should not be hazardous to our children’s health. It has long been assumed that the things that we buy and give to our children, those same toys, teethers, and pacifiers that our babies put in their mouths, are safe. But as we all know now, that is not the case.
In a bold move yesterday, the House overwhelmingly approved legislation that would ban lead from baby toys and children’s products. These are the toughest standards for lead in the world. In addition, the legislation also bans six types of phthalates in plastic products meant for children. Third-party testing of these products would be required, to be monitored by the Consumer Safety Commission, and that is a key step to ensure the safety of our children.
The recalls of toys because of lead contamination has been in the news. At least one little boy in Minnesota died of lead poisoning when he swallowed a jewelry charm. And I personally know one family who had a health scare when their one-year-old son swallowed a small toy resulting in high levels of lead in his system.
You also may have heard of BPA. This is a chemical or actually series of chemicals that can be grouped together called phthalates, that has been shown to cause reproductive issues for males and the onset of early puberty in females when tested on lab animals. Another study showed that the amount of lotion, powder and shampoo that is used on a baby directly correlates to the amount of phthalates that are found in the baby’s urine. Phthalates gives plastics their flexibility and can be found in everything from those shampoo bottles, bath books and rubber duckies to sippy cups, baby bottles and teethers to toys.
While I applaud this legislation, which was approved by a 424 to 1 vote (with Republican Ron Paul of Texas dissenting), isn’t it a shame that it takes a massive recall of 45 million toys and products to act as catalyst for change. My own children chewed on teethers, played with rubber duckies and bath books, drank from sippy cups and put plenty of toys in their mouths. All of the time I had no idea that I was putting them in danger.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. Starting June 1st, don’t miss her articles in the Baby Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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