My son will turn one in a couple of weeks. Friends and family have asked me what his favorite activities are. Aside from emptying my purse, unloading my kitchen cabinets and tearing up my work documents, I tell people he pretty much likes anything that makes noise, rolls, or can go “in and out” of something. But now, I want to qualify that by saying “but make sure it doesn’t have lead!” We have all heard the recalls; Fisher Price….1 million toys…Dora the Explorer…Thomas the Tank Engine… Sesame Street figures… just to name a few. With holiday shopping upon us, I wondered how to be a smart consumer and politely direct the gift-buying grandparents in the right direction.
Why the concern?
The majority of recent recalls, particularly by the big manufacturing companies, are due to high levels of lead-based paint. Lead is a heavy metal that is toxic and is not allowed to exceed .06% in United States. In small children, repeat exposure and ingestion can build up and affect the brain and nervous system, leading to developmental disabilities. As many of you probably are aware, houses built prior to 1977 (all of Fairlington) used lead paint. My pediatrician required Ryan to get tested at 9 months for lead. This is not meant to alarm you, but instead ensure that we are all informed and aware of our children’s environment (including daycare, preschool, and any other place your child frequents).
Useful information on finding more about toy recalls.
By far, I encourage all of you to visit the US Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website; http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/category/toy.html It has the most current, complete and updated information available – in one place. You just need to click on the item you want to investigate. The one drawback is that there are no photos of the toys. The site is for all recalls, not just lead paint, but I found it helpful. I also found the following blog interesting, albeit a little quirky; http://adopttwoboys.blogspot.com/2007/08/lead-free-toys-list.html The blog provides information about lead-free, all natural toys as well as opinions about them. If you don’t want to go to the blog, please note the links listed below.
Where to shop?
The following list of links for online shopping is by no means complete, but it can be a helpful start if you are interested in shopping for alternatives. I would also like to say that the information is based on research and talking to local toy store owners. It is impossible to say definitively that all the products are lead-free.
http://www.northstartoys.com/ : handcrafted wooden toys, recycled materials used when possible
The following are also available at Kinder Haus Toys:
http://www.unclegoose.com/index.html : they have a great selection of educational toys
http://www.maplelandmark.com/
http://roytoy.com/main.html : Log cabins, building blocks
http://www.lauritoys.com/ : soft puzzles
http://www.channelcraft.com: classic American toys
Good luck shopping and happy holidays!
Kinder Haus Toys
1220 N. Fillmore Street
Arlington, VA 22202
(703) 527-5929
www.kinderhaus.com
kindhaus@kinderhaus.com
MOMS -- Have any toys not made in China that you would recommend to the group? Know of a website that can direct us to safe toys? Use the comments section below to add your ideas!
2 comments:
i recently stumbled upon chinafreechristmas.info, which has some great recommendations for toys not made in china by age group and by price. they also have a list of brands that they say can be trusted or should be checked closely. as always, i would recommend you verify before making a purchase if this is a real issue for you, but i thought this was a great start.
thanks for the article, jennifer!
I just saw this website on another listserv and thought I would pass it along...
http://www.healthytoys.org/
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