Another Chinese Toy Recall
The seemingly non-stop recalls of toys made in China is just getting crazy...Aqua Dots are being recalled because they contain a chemical that is similar to the date rape drug GHB when ingested. More information on how this recall came about may be found in this article in the NY Times.
One issue that stuck out for me in this case is that the manufacturer did not list the hazardous chemical in question in its ingredients and was unwilling to share information on how the beads were actually manufactured. This level of distrust and secrecy has been reflected in other investigations of Chinese manufacturing; the recent detaining of a business reporter at a Chinese toy manufacturing plant is perhaps the most compelling example of just how big this problem is.
Also the Consumer Products Safety Commission only responds to issues after they have been discovered and the product in question is already in the hands of kids. Even then, who knows how many other toys have toxic substances that just haven't been "discovered" yet.
How has this spate of toy recalls affected you? We have always "gently encouraged" our families to not give toys to our kids from China but haven't made it a rule because that seemed kinda dictatorial but now....?
Have you adopted any "giving guidelines" or "shopping guidelines" this holiday season? Any other changes in your house as a result of these safety issues?
Thanks, Tony, for the info! Great minds must think alike :-) There's also a previous post on this on Activistas, back in August, I think: http://urbanmamas.typepad.com//activistas/2007/08/the-toy-crisis-.html. But the issue is especailly relevant all over again with the holidays coming up.
Posted by: Lisa | November 08, 2007 at 09:05 AM
When it comes to people asking what our kiddos want we tell them that they LOVE, natural and wooden toys. We also stress how we love support the independent toys shops in town. These places thrive off customer loyalty and they usually know a lot more, and are honest about where the toys come from.
Another idea that we give family members is gift cards to clothing shops (kids always need new clothes b/c of all the growing they do) and places like The Portland Children's Museum, OMSI and the Zoo. We also stress how they love to receive books even more that the cheap-o-toys that cost too much money and that can fall apart fast. Also we don't let our kids open the presents all the way, that way we can return them if we need to. We also teach our kids to not want those "poison plastics" toys.
Posted by: Becky | November 08, 2007 at 12:26 PM
I know I've suggested this before... but I'm finally just going to do it myself - if you want to join in, I'll take your toys too and drop them off at the local US legislators's offices. Easier than mailing, but I want to make a statement - a REAL statement that this is not OK. Anyone interested? I will write a letter, too, and post it on Activistas for downloading. Stay tuned.
Posted by: Lisa | November 08, 2007 at 12:33 PM
I gave my 4 yr old daughter these Aqua dots for her bday and they were all over my house for a week. I was severly concerned when I heard of this recall as I have a 19th month old son who could have very easily ingested one of those dots! Ugh....so very frustrating...my daughter loves doing them too, but the first thing I did this morning was bag them up. I called the Aqua Dots(Spinmaster) customer center and waited on the phone for 45 minutes...I finally gave up. I got on their website, filled out the form and tried submitting it 5 times...it never went through...finally gave up. Very frustrating.
Posted by: Merry | November 08, 2007 at 12:48 PM
I've put my child in a bubble...
Seriously, though, my daughter's favorite toys right now seem to be the wooden spoon, measuring cup, a couple of pot lids, the broom (which I have to hide because it's too big for her to lug around), etc. etc.
Posted by: kirsten | November 08, 2007 at 12:49 PM
There's a great site: www.thethingsiwant.com where you can create wishlists consisting of products from virtually any other retailer on the web. It works much like an online gift registry. Our families know us, generally understand our value systems, and we have asked them to refer to our daughter's wishlist on this site when it is time for gift giving. We don't feel sorry for letting our wishes be known, although we make every effort to do so diplomatically. Most of our family has been very respectful of this.
Posted by: Colleen | November 08, 2007 at 01:04 PM
This sounds like a great idea, Lisa. Maybe you can identify some local biz or two that would like to be the site of the drop off? Are you thinking any and all plastic toys, or? With all these recalls, it's making me rethink the way we approach toys.
Posted by: Hau | November 08, 2007 at 01:04 PM
A local drop-off sounds great. Anyone? My house is an option, but I a wel-known "public" space would likely be better and, with a sign above it, garner more attention & therefore toys!!
Posted by: Lisa | November 08, 2007 at 02:10 PM
I know this recall was not for lead paint, so sorry to be off topic...and feel free to move this post where it might be more applicable...but I keep wondering about items I have around that don't fit the exact recall date criteria (for lead paint levels, for example), but look similar or identical to recalled items. Mainly, items produced BEFORE the recalled items.
We purposely have tried to get toys second-hand to avoid buying new, but are we to assume that this problem with lead paint is only a recent phenomenon? Are manufacturer's really testing every toy they have in their 'toy safes' from years past or only ones they already know are an issue?
My understanding is that the "at home" lead test kits are unreliable and not recommended...but I seem to remember some kind of scanning gun at Green Sprouts in September that scanned for lead content--does anyone know if this testing method exists and is reliable? Are there any local services offering such testing (and can I take a trunk-load of toys there to be tested)?
Posted by: Rasa | November 08, 2007 at 08:04 PM
I remember what you are talking about at Green Sprouts - the woman who was doing that had two piece of equipment - I think they might be a type of x-ray/fluoroscope. One you could put little toys inside, and one was a hand-held gun for larger things. I think she told me that this program was run by the Portland Development Commission, and that she was doing another toy testing at the Matt Dishman Center on Oct. 28 (I couldn't go). We tested one Haba toy in my bag, which had nothing on it, of course. The guy behind me had some paint chips, which were apparently made entirely of lead.
Anyway, she told me that low income families could get quite a bit of testing done through her program. Some private lead abatement companies might be able to do toy testing, she said, but she thought it would cost an arm and a leg.
Given what's going on now, doesn't this seem like a service that someone would offer regularly, like weekly, knowing that there are families with armfuls of things that need testing? I don't have any Thomas trains, but I do have about 8,000 hand-me-down pieces of plastic.
On the other hand, everybody says that the bigger danger is probably from lead paint and plumbing material.
Wait- here it is
http://www.pdc.us/housing_serv/home_improvement/hi_lead-hazard.asp
Posted by: catmom | November 08, 2007 at 08:33 PM
In spite of the fact that I was called snobbish by my mother and family, I made it clear from the very beginning (about 3 years ago before the birth of my first child...)that we ONLY wanted high quality toys, actually most particularly brands from the northern European countries. To be honest, rather than from a safety issue (I had at least some faith in our regulatory agencies back then...), it was simply that we did not want a bunch of cheap plastic crap around the house....The excuse then was that my husband, a northern German, requested that their "toys be like the ones I had growing up..."
After some initial resistance, I helped her to find versions of things she wanted to get. For example, a pushwagon/ride on. I found one from HABA. I told her to let it be the one REALLY nice present for Christmas. Once she discovered that HABA, Brio, Ravensburger are not that hard to find (www.oompa.com is a wonderful shop...), she was placated...
And now...almost every member of my family has commented on how I turned out to be right. They of course are now only to happy to purchase things I ask for.
So, I feel that it is most certainly appropriate to be a gatekeeper. In fact, my sister-in-law has actually made the request as well...
I know that these items can be more expensive..but it is never too early for anyone to learn "quality over quantity"
Posted by: Rebecca | November 08, 2007 at 10:32 PM
In response to Rasa's comment:
We helped arrange a toy exchange as part of the Lead Safe Portland event that happened a couple of weeks ago:
http://www.portlandonline.com/water/index.cfm?a=bhccjh&c=djghi
At that event, folks were able to have toys screened using the type of spectrum analyzer you are speaking of and unsafe toys could be traded in for wood, toxic-free, USA-made toys that we provided.
I don't know if any similar community events are planned but I will follow-up with the people we worked with on the Lead Safe Portland event and post the info here.
In the interim, the best local resource for information on lead-testing and support programs is the the Lead Line:
http://www.co.multnomah.or.us/health/lead/leadline.html
All the best,
Tony
Milagros
Posted by: Milagros | November 09, 2007 at 03:26 AM
The Portland Development Commission will be providing lead-paint screening of toys on Monday November 12th at Finnegans toy store downtown (922 SW Yamhill), 10:30-12:00 as part of a press release with Darlene Hooley.
PDC will also be providing lead testing of toys on Nov 17th at the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneures (OAME, 4134 N Vancouver) from 7:00 am-10:00 am.
I also wanted to reiterate Catmom's point that for folks living in housing built before 1950, the chances of having lead-based paint in our homes is pretty high and that is a more likely source of lead poisoning. It's important not just to test our kid's toys for lead, but also our homes and our kid's blood for lead exposure (from paint, dust, and water).
Posted by: andrea | November 09, 2007 at 01:40 PM
Please check out our post on 11.10 over on Activistas re our toxic toy dump today! All fun, hopefully effective.
Posted by: Lisa | November 09, 2007 at 07:16 PM
I heard from PDC and they are doing another toy screening this Saturday, November 17th from 7:00 AM - 10:00 AM for KPTV at OAME, 4134 N. Vancouver in Portland. No charge, bring your questionable toys...
We will see if we can set-up a similar event at Milagros, stay tuned...
Posted by: Milagros | November 13, 2007 at 12:06 PM