Warm weather is pulling up the moisture up from the snow - what a sight.
Score one for toy safety, minus one for safety details.
The toy safety issue with the recent ban on phthalates and lead in toys is a great step forward but has no where near solved the problem. This is very similar to the BPA issue where some companies have replaced BPA. That is a great move but how many people ask the question...What have you replaced it with and is that safe?
Some of the replacement chemicals for phthalates being put into toys have no track record on research and come packaged in fancy names that make doing your own research next to impossible. Even the Eastman Tritan chemical that has replaced BPA in Nalgenes claims to have passed all the EPA and FDA standards but we know that can meaningless. I can't find the actual research with numbers, testing levels etc. They just say they passed the minimums set forth by these agencies. The key word being minimum. That's like our packaged food being allowed to have .5 grams of transfat per serving but the company is allowed to plaster all over the package "Trans FAT Free". It's all about the minimum.
Back to toys - NPR did an excellent job reporting about this today, asking similar thought provoking questions...Is the replacement for phthalates safe? The article concludes that there is no conclusion because of 4 basic reasons:
1 - Too many chemicals on the market to truly assess the safety of all of them
2 - Federal law does not require disclosure of the chemicals used
3 - Lack of Transparency - Companies use the "propriety secret" as a reason for not divulging their chemical ingredients
4 - Methods for testing chemicals are outdated and not keeping up with demand.
Luckily California has a new law that will eventually require chemical ingredient listing. That's a start.
So what about plastic toys? My take is, anything that might go in the mouth at a given age should be safe and not made out of any kind of plastic or lead (beware of paints). Most 10 year old girls don't suck on their American Girl Dolls (gosh I hope not) so that would be a safe situation. It really gets down to the little ones that still like to chew and suck on things. Some outgrow it sooner than others. Want full peace of mind? Forgo the plastic until you really know the child doesn't do the in your mouth thing. Remember...wood is good.
Showing posts with label baby toys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baby toys. Show all posts
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Safe Baby Rattles - Wood Is Good
It's dark out!
Toys have been getting a lot of deserved attention lately as the expose of toxic plastics continues. But what about baby toys or their play things? Here's the tattle on the rattle...
Babies really can't "play" and so they are restricted to things that they can hold in their tight little grasp. And what goes in their hand, also goes in their mouth. Historically speaking, babies have been given a combination of things that rattle (to ward off evil spirits) and things to chew on (even stones strapped to sticks!) Humans have been using "natural" materials up until... plastic. My opinion is there is no safe plastic, not any number - no how- that should be sucked on or chewed on or gummed on by a baby, period. Since there is no further discussion of plastic, what's next?
There is the fancy heirloom silver or stainless steel rattle that is beautiful, easy to wash, sounds nice (usually), dents when dropped - but hey, it's an heirloom. I don't know about you, but sucking on something cold (unless you need teething comfort) gives me the shivers. It probably hurts too when you whack it up against the face.
There are also soft toy rattles, even some made out of organic fibers. My concern about those is that, given the sucking power of babies, there is a risk of small fibers breaking off and being ingested. What dyes were used? What chemicals were used for fabric processing?
That narrows the choices down to wood - good old mother nature...wood is good. Wood is receiving a revival, not just because plastic is bad, but because wood actually might be good. Research coming out of analyzing wooden cutting boards has shown that wood might contain some antibacterial properties that plastic doesn't. Makes sense Mother Nature would have some built in protection.
When looking for wooden baby rattles, look for the following properties:
1 - Soft, well sanded edges
2 - easy grip
3 - solid construction
4 - not too big
5 - not too little
6 - unfinished surface OR edible finish
Let me finish with... the finish. You might find some products that say "safe non-toxic finish". What exactly does that mean ? Nothing really, it is up to you to find out what they mean. The reason is because the two most popular finishes are food grade mineral oil and water based epoxy/polyurethane type paint. Since there is no regulation on what these are called, companies have taken upon themselves to call them non-toxic. (nice marketing idea, eh?) Food grade mineral oil (like baby oil) is nothing more than what is left after the production of crude oil (as in what we heat our homes with), like paraffin to make candles. It is no different than a baby sucking on a paraffin candle. Food grade is just a bump up from really disgusting crude oil, but make no mistake, it is still petroleum. (petrolatum when in cosmetics)
The safest option really is unfinished wood. There are finishes out their that combine vegetable oils and beeswax but rare to find. So remember when that label says "Non-Toxic", ask "How?".
After all, what would you want to suck on?
Toys have been getting a lot of deserved attention lately as the expose of toxic plastics continues. But what about baby toys or their play things? Here's the tattle on the rattle...
Babies really can't "play" and so they are restricted to things that they can hold in their tight little grasp. And what goes in their hand, also goes in their mouth. Historically speaking, babies have been given a combination of things that rattle (to ward off evil spirits) and things to chew on (even stones strapped to sticks!) Humans have been using "natural" materials up until... plastic. My opinion is there is no safe plastic, not any number - no how- that should be sucked on or chewed on or gummed on by a baby, period. Since there is no further discussion of plastic, what's next?
There is the fancy heirloom silver or stainless steel rattle that is beautiful, easy to wash, sounds nice (usually), dents when dropped - but hey, it's an heirloom. I don't know about you, but sucking on something cold (unless you need teething comfort) gives me the shivers. It probably hurts too when you whack it up against the face.
There are also soft toy rattles, even some made out of organic fibers. My concern about those is that, given the sucking power of babies, there is a risk of small fibers breaking off and being ingested. What dyes were used? What chemicals were used for fabric processing?
That narrows the choices down to wood - good old mother nature...wood is good. Wood is receiving a revival, not just because plastic is bad, but because wood actually might be good. Research coming out of analyzing wooden cutting boards has shown that wood might contain some antibacterial properties that plastic doesn't. Makes sense Mother Nature would have some built in protection.
When looking for wooden baby rattles, look for the following properties:
1 - Soft, well sanded edges
2 - easy grip
3 - solid construction
4 - not too big
5 - not too little
6 - unfinished surface OR edible finish
Let me finish with... the finish. You might find some products that say "safe non-toxic finish". What exactly does that mean ? Nothing really, it is up to you to find out what they mean. The reason is because the two most popular finishes are food grade mineral oil and water based epoxy/polyurethane type paint. Since there is no regulation on what these are called, companies have taken upon themselves to call them non-toxic. (nice marketing idea, eh?) Food grade mineral oil (like baby oil) is nothing more than what is left after the production of crude oil (as in what we heat our homes with), like paraffin to make candles. It is no different than a baby sucking on a paraffin candle. Food grade is just a bump up from really disgusting crude oil, but make no mistake, it is still petroleum. (petrolatum when in cosmetics)
The safest option really is unfinished wood. There are finishes out their that combine vegetable oils and beeswax but rare to find. So remember when that label says "Non-Toxic", ask "How?".
After all, what would you want to suck on?
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